


Memory Bound

by KittiePhanatic



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drug Use, Gen, Good Brother Ben Hargreeves, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Good Sister Allison Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Luther Hargreeves A+ Leadership, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, Suicidal Thoughts, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-02 00:37:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20562431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittiePhanatic/pseuds/KittiePhanatic
Summary: "If I don’t come out in two minutes, that means---" they reached the bottom and Diego turned Klaus to face him, keeping his hands on Klaus' shoulders. "---I’m probably dead. That happens, go get help.  Okay?"Klaus stopped abruptly and stared into his brother’s eyes.  Within that split second Klaus felt a surge of anger.  He quickly threw his vodka bottle, hearing it shatter as Klaus shoved Diego against the stairs.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Another AU in which a reaction from Klaus followed by a PTSD event prevents Diego from continuing his pursuit of Hazel and Cha-Cha; instead, he helps Klaus, and they help the other siblings try to save the world.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings! I am working on another UA fic besides this one, so updates here may be a little slow. Hope you all enjoy!

Diego Hargreeves furiously charged through the mansion doors and headed straight to his childhood bedroom. He yanked out his Umbrella Academy knife case from underneath his bed; and after opening it, he removed his harness from his torso and deposited each of his knives in its appropriate place setting. As he paused to stare at one of his knives, he flashed back to the day before.

_ You always loved telling me what I can and can't do, _ he had told his ex-girlfriend, Detective Eudora Patch. _ You know, maybe for once, just try things my way. _

She did just that later in the evening. And it cost Eudora her life. All for what was apparently a fucking false lead.

After the Academy had been attacked by a couple in creepy kids' masks looking for Number Five the other night, Diego had spent the following day with Luther --- of all people, Diego's least-favorite sibling throughout their lives --- trying to track down Five and find out why. After finally retrieving Five drunk from the library and listening to him babble about killing people and an apocalypse as Luther carried him back to Diego's gym boiler room apartment, Diego received a message with a motel address where Eudora was waiting for him, claiming she had found his brother. Believing it was their other brother Klaus, Diego raced to the motel room, only to find Eudora dead and Klaus nowhere to be found.

_ Hazel and Cha-Cha. _ That was what Five called them. _ The best of the best; except me, of course. _ What the fuck ever; Five had made no sense ever since returning from his sixteen-plus-year disappearance (or forty-five years, according to that arrogant bastard). Diego had no time to reflect on any of this. He needed to find this Hazel and Cha-Cha, and kill them; and he knew where first to look: their childhood hangout, Griddy's Doughnuts. These two, along with Five, were involved in the shootings there on Five's first night back, and then at Gimble Brothers Department Store the following evening; Diego had found a receipt from the former establishment in the motel room.

Diego quickly refocused as he arranged his last knife and slammed the case shut. He marched out of his room and down the side staircase.

As Diego entered the foyer he saw Klaus staring at the fallen chandelier. "What happened here?" Klaus mumbled.

"You look like shit," Diego snarked to his disheveled brother. At least Diego knew Klaus was safe, and that he obviously hadn’t been abducted by those assholes.

"Oh, why, thank you," Klaus muttered breathily. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Nope," Diego said abruptly. No way was he bringing Klaus on this stakeout. Klaus had been pretty much useless in the majority of their missions during the Umbrella Academy child superhero days, at least ever since Klaus' drinking and drug use had started when they all were thirteen.

"What?" Klaus approached him.

"I’m not giving you a ride."

"Oh, come on, man, you know I can’t drive," Klaus pleaded.

"I don’t c---" 

Before Diego could say anything further, Klaus looked pleadingly at him with bloodshot eyes, the dark circles underneath even more prominent than usual. Within that split second, however, Diego also noted that Klaus wasn’t delivering any of his usual quipful responses to anything that Diego was saying.

It was in Diego's moment of weakness that Klaus took advantage. "Great. I’ll just get my things. Two minutes." He patted Diego's chest as he quickly headed to his room.

Diego sighed. Oh, well. At least he wasn’t stuck hanging out with Luther again. Truth be told, despite Klaus being a general pain in the ass, he was the only sibling that Diego actually liked, and Diego had always tried to look out for Klaus over the years.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Klaus barely registered anything that Diego was saying about a stakeout as Diego drove them through town in the rain. Something about vengeance against someone who just killed a friend of his. One of his vigilanté duties, whatever. Klaus leaned his head against the window as he pulled a bottle of vodka out of his coat pocket.

"You okay?" Diego broke the silence after a few minutes. Klaus didn’t answer and instead slowly chugged the bottle. "Wow. My brother Klaus is silent. Last time you were this quiet, we were twelve. Ran down the stairs wearing Grace's heels; tripped over and broke your jaw. How long was it wired again?"

Klaus closed his eyes. "Eight weeks," he answered raspily.

"Eight glorious weeks of bliss."

_ Well, fuck you, too, Diego. I went from being badgered by Five to having you tease me on THE WORST FUCKING DAY OF MY LIFE. _ Klaus then noticed off in the distance a VFW bar and said, "Hey, just drop me off here."

Diego quickly pulled in the lot and Klaus stumbled out the door with his vodka. "You sure you’re okay, man?" Klaus heard Diego say right before Klaus slammed the door on him. He stuck the bottle back in his pocket and stumbled indoors. He sat at the counter and poured himself a shot before wandering around the bar.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego sat in his car for a moment after watching Klaus stagger into the bar. Something clearly was not right with Klaus. Why would he go into a veterans bar? And what was so upsetting to him in the first place?

Diego started to back out, but stopped midway and pulled back in. He needed to find out what was up with Klaus; plus, Klaus might get beaten up in there for pissing off actual veterans. He exited the car and walked toward the bar entrance.

Diego immediately saw Klaus' coat in a mound on the counter. He scanned the bar and quickly saw Klaus standing in front of a memorial wall, crying. _ What the fuck? _ Diego hadn’t seen Klaus cry since they were seventeen and Ben had died. Not even the amount of times that Diego had to take care of Klaus after he had gotten beat up mainly for being the person he was. Diego then quickly eyed several older men sitting at a table watching him. This wasn’t good. He needed to get Klaus to talk, but he also needed to get them away from here ASAP.

Diego slowly approached Klaus from behind as Klaus pulled out a badge and kissed it. Then Diego clamped his hand on Klaus' shoulder.

Klaus barely turned around as he moaned, "Just go away, please." 

"Not until you talk to me," Diego said quietly.

"Is that a threat? Are you threatening me?"

Before Diego could answer, a man spoke up behind them. "Hey, guys." Diego turned to face a heavier Marine veteran. Terrific. "This bar, it’s for vets only."

"I am a vet," Klaus argued, much to Diego's surprise, as his back remained turned on them. _ What the hell kind of drugs did you take? _ Diego wondered, although Klaus didn’t have the normal eccentrics which came with his highs.

"Really?" The vet laughed sarcastically. "Where’d you serve?"

"None of your business!" 

"You’ve got balls coming in here pretending to be one of us," the vet glared at him.

Klaus slowly turned to face him. "I have every right to be here, just like you…_ ASSHOLE! _"

As the vet stepped forward Diego stood between them. "Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah…hey, slow down there, Marine, all right? My brother’s had a few too many. Let’s just call it a day; we’ll all go our own way."

"Sure thing."

"Thank you." He turned back around to Klaus. "Klaus, lets---"

"As long as you apologize," the vet said smugly. Klaus snickered and turned back to the wall.

Diego looked at Klaus, becoming more concerned about his brother with each passing moment. He then turned back to the Marine. "Fine. I’m sorry. He’s sorry. We’re all sorry. So, are we good?"

"I wanna hear," the vet pointed at Klaus, "_him _ say it." 

"Hey, man, I’m just trying to help---"

"No, he’s right, Diego." Klaus turned back to face the vet as he sauntered forward. _ Shit. This isn’t gonna be pretty._ Diego braced himself for a disaster. "I’d like to apologize…that _ you _ are depriving some village of their _ IDIOT!!!_"

With that, Klaus ducked a punch from the Marine and then knocked him down with a headbutt, while Diego plowed their way through several of the vet's buddies until they made it to the front entrance.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ten minutes later Diego and Klaus were parked across the street from Griddy's Doughnuts. While Diego was trying to focus on his original plan for the day he was also very concerned about the person sitting to his side, who was now a stranger to him. The normally eccentric, witty and flamboyant Klaus was now moody and lashing out at everyone. None of what happened so far today made any sense. Meanwhile, Klaus was bitterly chuckling in the passenger seat.

"You’ve got a big mouth, you know that?" Diego scolded him.

"Wow, what a truly shocking revelation, Diego."

"Yeah, everything's a big joke to you, isn’t it?" Diego then saw Klaus pull out a small baggie of pills. Diego quickly grabbed it from Klaus' hands. "Would you stop it?" Klaus pounded his fists into his lap. "Why are you putting this shit in your body?"

Klaus looked straight ahead and blew a raspberry.

"Check this out." Diego opened his coat and patted his midsection. "My body is a temple." Klaus rolled his eyes. "All that shit you do, it’s just weakness."

"Oh, wow, beautiful," Klaus moaned sarcastically as he pulled out another baggie. "Well, weakness feels so good."

At that point, Diego had it with Klaus' self-destructive behavior, but he also bore another concern about the complete one-eighty with his brother: that whatever happened broke Klaus and possibly made him suicidal. Diego knew that Klaus wasn’t trying to kill himself at the moment but instead just numb himself, but Diego now wondered what Klaus might do alone in his room later that night.

So as Klaus started opening his second baggie, Diego smacked him in the back of the head, knocking that bag and those pills, too. "What’s going on with you?!"

"_Don’t hit me, asshole!_" Klaus was the only brother who could get away with calling him that; Diego would have beaten the shit out of Luther or Five if they had tried.

Without missing a beat Diego yelled, "Don’t tell me that everything's all right, because I saw you in there; you were crying like a baby!"

Klaus cowered until he finally blurted out, "'Cause I lost someone!"

Diego looked at Klaus, stunned, having had no idea that Klaus had anyone important in his life.

"I lost someone. The only…" Klaus sighed heavily, "the only person I ever truly loved more than myself."

Diego then faced the front, taking that in. He thought again about Eudora, realizing that they had one more thing in common. Through his peripheral vision Diego saw Klaus take out one more bag. "Cheers." Klaus popped a pill.

Diego then turned back to face his brother. "Well, you’re luckier than most," he said quietly. "When you lose someone, at least you can see them whenever you want."

Klaus faintly smiled. Diego was grateful that it appeared he finally got through to Klaus. Before either of them could reflect any further, however, Diego glanced at his rearview mirror to discover Hazel walking toward his own car outside Griddy's. Diego turned around for a better view. "That’s our man."

Klaus stared at his side-view mirror. "Hey, I know that guy!"

Diego turned back to face him. "How could you possibly--- "

"He and a really angry lady tortured me. I barely got out with my life."

Diego abruptly stared at Klaus. _ Wow, so they did kidnap you after all? _ Diego then turned back to the rear window and saw Hazel drive off. Diego now had one more reason to go after both of them. "We’ve gotta get this guy," he said as he started the engine.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As Diego followed Hazel at a distance he dumbfoundedly verified with Klaus, "So, they kidnapped _ and _ tortured you? After they shot up the house? How did you not even hear them in the first place?"

"I was listening to my Walkman because the ghosts were too loud," Klaus admitted. "Hazel ambushed me. They kept me tied up for twenty-four hours until a cop friend of yours saved me. She pulled a gun on them while I was able to escape through the air vents."

"Klaus," Diego said sadly, "They killed her after you escaped."

It took a moment to register to Klaus, and then his heart sank. "_What?! _ Oh, shit, Diego! I’m so sorry!" He then felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. _ She died saving my life. _ He didn’t say it out loud, of course. That would have just poured salt on Diego's wound. 

Diego quickly shook his head. "This isn’t your fault, Klaus. It’s mine because I told her to do things my way, and I wasn’t around to get her message in time because Luther and I spent the entire day looking for Five, who was also missing. Found him at the library shitfaced. By the time I got her message, I’m pretty sure the shit had already gone down."

"Christ, Diego---"

"I don’t want to talk about it, okay?"

Klaus nodded. He cautiously put his hand on Diego's shoulder for a moment.

"There’s something else I need to tell you," Diego sighed. "I know this is bad timing, but Mom also died the other night."

"_What?!_" Klaus was now even more heartbroken. "Hazel and Cha-Cha?"

Diego said nothing, so Klaus assumed he was correct. He felt a couple of tears roll down his face. They said nothing further as they saw Hazel pick up Cha-Cha at the Argyle Library. After a few more blocks the bad guys pulled into a motel parking lot.

Diego stopped his car across the street and waited until Hazel and Cha-Cha went up a flight of stairs. Then Diego drove to the motel lot and parked behind an ice cream truck. He pulled his tracking device and monitor out his messenger bag. "Wait here," he told Klaus as he left the car to plant the tracking device on the bottom of Hazel and Cha-Cha's car.

Not long after Diego returned to his own car, he eyed his targets as they stared out their motel room window. "Bingo," he said to Klaus. He then grabbed his knife case and got his harness ready.

Klaus took another swig of his vodka. "You do know that killing these people is not going to make you feel any better." Something Klaus knew all too well after his ten-month tour.

"Yeah," Diego agreed as he attached his harness. "But when it’s done, I’m gonna sleep like a baby."

"Sure you will."

Klaus and Diego watched as a motel clerk knocked on their door to deliver a message. A minute later, Hazel left the room with an ice bucket.

"Stay in the car," Diego ordered Klaus.

"What're you talking about?! This guy tortured me!" Klaus protested, despite what he had just told Diego. Truthfully, after what they did to both him and the lady cop, he wanted to help Diego bring them down.

"I have a plan." Diego then exited the car.

_ Oh, fuck this. _ Klaus let Diego get about twenty feet away before following him up the stairs. As Diego was preparing to bust down the door as Klaus sauntered up next to him. "So, what exactly is the plan here, big guy?"

Keeping his eyes on the motel door, Diego objected, "I told you to wait in the car."

"Yeah, but you also told me that licking a nine-volt battery would give me pubes." Klaus took one more gulp of vodka.

Diego then faced him. "We were eight." Klaus shrugged and took one more step until Diego stopped him. "Uh-uh, uh-uh," he whispered as he turned Klaus around and guided him back down the stairs.

"What?! Come on," Klaus complained. 

"For once in your life, I need you to listen to me, okay?" Diego ordered as he continued leading Klaus down the bottom half of the stairs. "Now, go back to the car. If I don’t come out in two minutes, that means---" they reached the bottom and Diego turned Klaus to face him, keeping his hands on Klaus' shoulders. "---I’m probably dead."

"So…." Klaus started to whisper.

"That happens, go get help. Okay?"

Klaus stopped abruptly and stared into his brother’s eyes. _ You did NOT just say that. After I already lost my one true love today. _ Within that split second Klaus felt a surge of anger. He quickly threw his vodka bottle, hearing it shatter as Klaus shoved Diego against the stairs. "Don’t you _ dare _ say that to me!" Klaus yelled. "Not after I just---"

Diego scrambled up and quickly placed his hand over Klaus' mouth. "_Would you keep your voice down!_" Diego hissed. "What the fuck are you thinking, man?"

Just then the two heard screeching of tires. They turned to see Hazel and Cha-Cha's car tear down the parking lot. Then there were gunshots.

"_Shit!_" Diego and Klaus raced up the stairs. Klaus still heard the gunshots as he nearly made it up to the top until he tripped over the last step.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_ "Lock and load! Charlie's away! Fire up those Claymores!" Klaus cheered as it rained bullets throughout the A Shau Valley jungle. Something exploded within ten yards of where he and Dave were huddled with their platoon. Klaus jumped. "Christ on a cracker! That was a close one! Huh, Dave?" _

_ Dave's head remained facing down. He didn't answer. _

_ "Dave?" _

_ Klaus turned Dave over and was instantly horrified to see Dave clutching his bleeding abdomen, barely alive. _

_ "WOUNDED!" Klaus cried out. "MEDIC! MEDIC!" He looked back at Dave, staring blankly upward. "Dave. Look at me," he pleaded desperately. "Look at me, okay?" Dave's eyes began fluttering. "Oh, damn it!" Klaus frantically glanced around again. "MEDIIIIIC!!!" Another bomb exploded within another few yards. _

_ Dave's eyes slowly closed as Klaus tearfully begged, "Hey. Hey. Please, please…please stay with me, Dave! Stay with me!" Dave's chest stopped moving. "No-no-no-no-no-no-no!!!" Klaus cried as he held Dave's lifeless body. _

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Klaus!" Diego quickly dropped to his knees, embracing Klaus, who was crouched on his knees as well, in the fetal position.

"Stay with me, Dave!" Klaus cried out. Then he looked around. "Damn it, I need a medic!"

_ What the actual fuck is going on with you, man? _ Diego wondered about his now-hysterical brother. He had to remain calm for Klaus. "Klaus," Diego gently placed his hands on Klaus' cheeks. "Hey. You’re okay. It’s okay."

As Klaus looked directly at Diego with bloodshot eyes, his breathing slowed, and he began to look more focused. Diego breathed a sigh of relief as Klaus murmured, "Diego?"

Diego moved his hands to Klaus' shoulders. "You okay, man?"

Klaus' eyes darted around. "We’re at…we’re at…."

"We’re at the motel," Diego said calmly. "Hazel and Cha-Cha shot at us. You had a flashback…or something."

Klaus took one more glance around the premises. Then he quickly stood up. "Shit." He raced down the stairs.

Diego quickly chased after Klaus and caught him at the bottom. He grabbed Klaus' shoulders again. "Klaus, you need to tell me what’s going on with you, but first I’m gonna get you home."

Klaus was too exhausted at this point to argue. He followed Diego to the car, only to discover that it and the tires had been shot out.

"Damn it!" Diego kicked the front tire. Then he opened his door and retrieved his coat, his knife case and his messenger bag. "We’re gonna have to get out of here," he told Klaus. "Cops are gonna be here soon." As he and Klaus started down the sidewalk Diego realized, "Shit, we’re about five miles from the Academy."

Klaus wearily pulled his bus ticket out of his coat pocket. "Here. It’s a monthly pass. I’ll walk home, since I screwed up your plans."

Diego sighed as he observed his brother’s mournful expression and frame a bit thinner than the last time Diego had seen him. He couldn’t quite admit to himself at how heartbroken he felt seeing his brother in this state of mind. "It’s okay, Klaus. I have money for a bus ticket myself. We’ll ride back together."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego and Klaus entered the Academy foyer to find Luther sitting at the bar in the living room. "Good, you’re here." Luther got up as the two turned toward the living room, confused.

"Look, right now's not a good time, Luther---"

Luther cut Diego off and looked at Klaus. "No. We need to talk."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "What did I do now?" He whined.

"Look, Five said you were kidnapped by Hazel and Cha-Cha, and that you stole their briefcase when you escaped and traveled through time for ten months."

Diego stared blankly at Luther, and then he observed Klaus, tensing up. "I don’t want to talk about it," Klaus said quietly.

Now this all started to make more sense to Diego…how Klaus could have gone through whatever he had, and to return as such a different person from before.

Of course, Luther couldn’t care less about what their brother might have encountered. "No, you need to tell me where you went, and in what time period, in case your presence there did anything to alter history."

"Luther, drop it," Diego ordered. "At least for now. We’ve been through enough shit today." Luther opened his mouth to object, but Diego repeated, "_ Drop it. _" He put his hand on Klaus' shoulder and started to lead him out of the room.

"Wait," Luther said. "Have either of you seen Five?"

"No," Diego and Klaus responded in unison as they headed up the stairs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego deposited his knife case and messenger bag in his bedroom, and then he headed toward Klaus' room. He knocked on the door. "Klaus?"

"Come in."

Diego opened the door to Klaus lying on the bed with his back propped up against the bed frame. Diego grabbed the chair from Klaus' desk and sat next to him. "Klaus, please talk to me. Tell me what went on where you were. I won’t say anything to Luther. But I’m worried about you, bro. Please, talk to me."

Klaus sighed as he stared ahead, tears forming in his eyes. "His name was Dave. We soldiered together in the A Shau Valley in the Mountain of the Crouching Beast."

It took a moment before it registered to Diego that Klaus had meant Vietnam, and that he must have been in the war. Quickly, however, Diego grinned weakly and responded, "Well, Dave must have been a very special person to put up with your weird-ass shit."

"Yeah," Klaus said dreamily as a single tear rolled down his face. "He was kind, and brave, and vulnerable, and…beautiful. Beautiful! And I was foolish enough to follow him all the way to the front lines."

"You fought in the shit?" Diego was stunned that Klaus would actually fight with a gun, when in the past his primary form of combat was to simply jump on others' backs.

"Oh yeah, baby."

"How'd they let you do that?"

"_Let _ me?" Klaus chuckled bitterly. "War couldn’t take enough bodies to please. Including his."

Diego continued to observe Klaus, who shed more tears. Then Diego asked quietly, "When?"

Klaus bottom lip trembled. "Probably ten minutes before I came back." He dropped his gaze.

"Shit. I’m sorry," Diego said softly. He got up from the chair and sat down on the bed next to Klaus. As Diego pulled Klaus close the floodgates opened and Klaus sobbed against his chest.

After Klaus had cried himself out, Diego offered to stay with him.

"It’s okay, D. I’ll be fine. But thank you."

"Not a problem," Diego said as he got up. "But come get me if you need to at any time in the night." He turned off the lights, and as he stood at the door, he said, "Just remember. You can see him any time you want."

After Diego left, Klaus turned to Ben, who had been there in ghost form watching the entire conversation.

"Diego's right, you know," Ben told him.

Klaus rolled his eyes at Ben. "Yeah, I get the hints that both of you are dropping to me. I can see him, but I need to be sober to do so."

Ben smiled. "That’s right. And you can do this. If you could handle the withdrawals while Hazel and Cha-Cha held you hostage, you can do so here, too, where at least Diego and I can help you through it."

Klaus sighed. "I hope so. Because I think I’m going to try it."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Klaus was restless and barely slept through the night. As the sun rose, Klaus gathered the remaining baggies of pills that he could find and headed toward the bathroom.

He had just flushed his last two down the toilet when there was a knock on the door. "Busy," he called out.

Then the door opened. "Oh, good; you’re up," Luther said as Klaus sighed angrily and rolled his eyes. Luther continued, "We need to talk; you, me and the others. So meet me in the living room."

Klaus didn’t budge. He couldn’t care less about Number One and his damn family meetings.

"Like, now-ish," Luther ordered.

"Yeah, that sounds like a real rager, but my schedule's already chock-full," Klaus snapped without turning to make eye contact.

"Yeah, no time for that. The world's ending in three days," Luther said abruptly and left before Klaus could process that revelation.


	2. Chapter 2

"_ Three days? _" Allison repeated Luther's words as she handed out cups of coffee to him, Diego and Klaus.

"That's what Five said," Luther replied.

"The old bastard did mention the apocalypse, come to think of it," Klaus said. "He just left out the part about how soon."

"But can we trust him?" Allison wondered. "I don't know if you've noticed, but Five's a little…" She whistled the cuckoo sound.

"Our little psycho." Klaus grinned.

"He was pretty convincing," Luther said. "If he wasn't trying to stop an apocalypse, those lunatics wouldn't be chasing him."

"That's why they were after him?" Diego wondered. 

"Yeah."

"What did Five even see?" Allison inquired.

Luther looked around the room, uneasily. "Uh, apparently, we all fought together against whoever was responsible." After a beat, he said, "So, here’s the plan: we go through Dad's research---"

Immediately everyone objected, and Klaus said, "Wait a tick, wait a tick, wait a tick. What actually happened the first time around?"

"Yeah, what are you not telling us?" Diego demanded. "Come on, big boy; spit it out."

Luther mumbled something that no one could understand as he took a sip of his coffee.

"What was that?" Allison inquired. 

"I said, uh, we died," Luther blurted out.

The others sat in shocked silence. In that moment, an umbrella fell from where it hung on the pillar, and popped open. Klaus yelped in shock.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Why am I doing this?" Vanya asked Leonard as they came in through the back entrance of the Academy.

"Because it's important," Leonard told her.

"I just feel like every time I see them, I come away feeling like there's less of me," Vanya objected.

"Things are different now," Leonard smiled at her. "You've got me. The Sonny to your Cher. The, um, peanut butter to your jelly." He laughed. "Vanya, you getting first chair is a huge accomplishment. You did it all by yourself. So it's the right thing to invite them to the concert. They need to see how talented you are, okay?"

"Okay, Sonny," Vanya grinned. "Let's do this."

"Maid's day off?" Leonard observed an overturned chair in Grace's charging area.

"Growing up, we called her Mom," Vanya explained.

"But where is everybody?" Leonard then saw the portraits of her Umbrella Academy siblings. "How come you're not in any of these?"

"It's always about the Umbrella Academy," Vanya said bitterly. "I just didn't make the cut."

Just then, they heard voices in the living room.

"No, we need to figure this out."

"Is it just us?"

"It's everybody."

"In the house? The whole planet?"

"No, outside the house. Everyone died."

"Hey," Vanya called out. Everyone stopped talking and turned to face her. "What's going on?" She asked.

Allison looked uneasily at the others, and then back to Vanya. "It's a family matter."

"A family matter," Vanya said bitterly. "So you couldn't bother to include me."

"No, it's not like that," Allison objected. "We were---

"Don't let me interrupt."

"Wait!" Allison pleaded. "I’ll fill you in later while we’re alone."

"Don’t bother," Vanya snapped. "And I won’t either."

"Vanya, that’s not fair!"

"_ Fair? _ " Vanya repeated Allison's words. "There’s _ nothing _ fair about being your sister. I have been left out of everything for as long as I can remember. I used to think it was Dad’s fault, but he’s dead. So it turns out, you’re the assholes!"

With that, Vanya turned tail and walked away, as Klaus mumbled, "Ouch."

"I’m gonna go find Vanya and explain," Allison started to leave.

"No, wait!" Luther objected. "There isn’t time." Allison returned to where she had been standing as Luther continued, "We need to figure out what causes the apocalypse. Now, there are loads of possibilities --- nuclear war, asteroids --- but I’m thinking this is about the moon. Dad must have sent me up there for a reason, and I was giving him daily updates on the conditions; I sent field samples. The first thing we need to do is find his research."

"Hold the phone," Klaus interrupted. "We all died fighting this thing the first time around."

"Klaus shockingly has a point," Diego said. "What gives us a win this time?"

Just then the room flashed bright blue as Five fell onto the bar countertop.

"Jesus!" Allison exclaimed as Klaus jumped from his seat at the bar to the bench nearby.

"You guys, am I still high, or do you see him, too?" Klaus inquired.

"Five, where have you been?" Luther demanded.

"Are you all right?" Allison observed Five roll off the counter and then he grabbed her coffee cup.

"Who did this?" Luther asked.

"Irrelevant," Five said as he guzzled Allison's coffee. "So, the apocalypse is in three days. The only chance we have to save our world is…well, us."

"The Umbrella Academy," Luther said. 

"Yeah, but with me, obviously. So if y'all don't get your sideshow acts together and get over yourselves, we’re screwed. Who cares if Dad messed us up? Are we going to let that define us?" The others shook their heads in response. "No," Five continued. "And to give us a fighting chance to see next week, I’ve come back with a lead." Ne pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Luther. "I know who’s responsible for the apocalypse. This is who we have to stop."

The paper simply read: _ REASSIGNMENT: PROTECT HAROLD JENKINS. _

"Harold Jenkins?" Diego repeated. "Who the hell is Harold Jenkins?"

Five took one last sip of coffee before tossing the cup and its sleeve across the room. "I don’t know yet, but I do know he’s responsible for the apocalypse. So we have to find him, and we have to do it _ now. _"

"How is he connected to what’s gonna happen?" Luther wondered.

"I don’t know."

"Wait," Allison objected. "So, you just know his name? That’s it?"

"That’s enough," Five said.

"There’s probably dozens of Jenkinses," Diego pointed out.

"Well, we just better start looking, then," Five demanded.

"I’m sorry," Allison argued, "Am I the only one that’s skeptical here? I mean, how exactly do you know about all of this about what’s-his-name?"

"Harold Jenkins," Five repeated. "You know those lunatics in masks who attacked the house?"

"Oh, yeah," Klaus looked sarcastically at Diego. "I think I know those guys!"

"Yeah, the ones that attacked us while you were getting drunk!" Diego snapped at Five.

"Yeah, them," Five said impatiently. "They were sent by the Temps Commission to stop me from coming back and preventing the end of life on Earth."

"The Temps _ what? _" Allison inquired. 

Five sighed. "My former employer. They monitor all of time and space to make sure that whatever is supposed to happen, happens. They believe the apocalypse is coming in three days, so I went to Commission headquarters and intercepted a message that was for said lunatics: Protect Harold Jenkins. So he must be responsible for the apocalypse."

A beat, and then Allison demanded, "What do you mean, protect time and space?" Simultaneously, Diego talked of going after Hazel and Cha-Cha. 

Klaus, meanwhile, wasn’t feeling so great and muttered, "My skin is on fire." He doubted that anyone heard him.

"Do you have any idea how _ insane _ this sounds?" Allison said.

Five glanced down at his midsection before facing everyone else. "You know what else is insane? I look like a thirteen-year-old, Klaus talks to the dead and Luther thinks he’s fooling everyone with that overcoat. Everything about us is insane; it always has been."

"He’s got a point, there," Klaus mumbled while clutching his stomach.

"We didn’t choose this life," Five continued, "We’re just living it…for the next three days, anyway."

"But the last time we tried to stop it, we all died," Allison objected. "Why is this time any different? Why shouldn’t I go home to my daughter?"

"Because this time, I’m here," Five pointed out. We have the name of the man responsible. Guys, we actually have the chance to save the lives of billions of people --- including Claire."

"You know her name?" Allison stared at him.

"I do, and I’d like to live long enough to meet her."

Allison paused before nodding. "All right. Let’s get this bastard."

"You had me at Gerald Jenkins," Diego said.

"_ Harold _Jenkins," Five corrected him.

"Whatever," Diego said. "I already lost two people this week. I’m not losing anyone else."

"Luther?" Five looked at him.

"Yeah, you go," Luther said. "I’m gonna stay and go through Dad's files. I still think this has something to do with why he sent me to the moon."

"Seriously?" Diego argued. "Now you wanna make the end of the world about you and Dad?"

"No," Luther said. "'Watch for threats.' That’s what he told me. You think that’s a coincidence? This all has to be connected somehow."

"No, we should all stick together," Allison objected.

"We don’t have time for this," Five exclaimed.

"Let’s roll," Diego ordered. "I know where we can find this asshole." Diego then turned to his other brother sitting on the bench. "Klaus, you’re with me."

In that moment, however, Diego soon realized that Klaus was going through withdrawals. Klaus, meanwhile got up and staggered out of the room, mumbling, "Yeah, I’m good. I think I’ll pass. I’m feeling a little under the weather." As a finishing touch, Klaus emitted a fart as he left.

_ Good for you, _ Diego thought to his brother. He would be sure to check on Klaus later. Perhaps if they couldn’t find this guy by the evening, Klaus should be through the worst of his withdrawals and could help them by that time.

So, Diego, Five and Allison left for the police station after Diego made a call to Chuck Beaman. The three Hargreeves siblings and Luther were unaware, however, that someone had overheard part of their conversation. Leonard had told Vanya he had forgotten his jacket and used that as an opportunity to steal a figurine of Sir Reginald Hargreeves. Vanya and her siblings were also unaware that Leonard Peabody was, in fact, Harold Jenkins.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I can’t believe I was stupid enough to go back there," Vanya said angrily to Leonard as the two stepped out into the rain.

"I shouldn’t have made you do it," Leonard admitted.

"No, it’s my fault," Vanya objected as she marched down the street. "I just wanted them to be proud of me. And how could I presume to be worthy of their attention? Nothing's ever big enough for their holier-than-thou, weight-of-the-world _ bullshit! _"

"Vanya!" Leonard interrupted her as they both observed that all of the parked vehicles were now damaged, and the street lights were bent forward.

"What the hell is happening?" Vanya wondered frightfully.

"_ You _ happened," Leonard beamed.

Vanya again glanced around before saying, "Oh, come on. That’s crazy. I mean, it was like this before---" Just then, the rain stopped. "That’s a coincidence. Leonard, it’s impossible!"

Leonard continued smiling. "How do you feel about taking a day off work and coming with me to Jackpine Cove?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego met with Beaman to get the police file, but Beaman informed Diego that the police were after him for Eudora Patch's murder. "Personally, I think you’re a real pain in the ass. I also know you’d never do anything like that. Just do me a favor and stay out of sight until I have more to go on."

"I will," Diego sighed. "But I can’t leave without that file."

"You know I could lose my job, right?"

"That file," Diego pleaded. "It won’t bring Patch back, but it could save some lives. I can’t explain to you how; I just need you to trust me."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Allison had just left a message on Vanya's answering machine when Diego arrived with the police file. "You’re welcome." He handed it to Allison.

Allison opened the file and quickly sucked in a breath as she saw his picture. "Holy shit!"

"What?" Diego asked.

"Harold Jenkins is Leonard Peabody!"

"Who?" Diego wondered.

Allison held up his picture. "Vanya's boyfriend." Then she realized, "No wonder I couldn’t find any dirt on him."

"Wait, you tried looking this guy up?" Diego asked as he, Allison and Five got in the car and he started the engine.

"Yeah, I’ve had my suspicions about him." Allison then explained how she had seen him alone inside Vanya's apartment and had started asking questions about Vanya's relationship with her siblings, which were none of his business. "Vanya and I went out for drinks later, and I thought that I had gotten through to her, but when we came back to her place, there was a bouquet of flowers there from him."

"Shit," Diego sighed, now suddenly feeling guilty for how he had treated her when Hazel and Cha-Cha had shot up the Academy. One of them had apparently hit Vanya in the head. Diego didn’t think to ask if she was okay and instead called her a liability. And this was after she had sided with Diego about not shutting Mom down…which Diego wound up having to do, anyway. And then Eudora died. Diego _ absolutely could not lose anyone else. _

"I know where he lives," Allison said. "Yesterday I broke into his house, but he returned while I was there. He didn’t see me, though."

Allison directed Diego to Leonard's home. As they got out of the car, she said, "Be careful, okay? We don’t know what Peabody's capable of."

Diego shrugged. "Yeah, he didn’t seem dangerous when I first saw him. Looked kind of scrawny."

"Yeah, well, so are most serial killers and mass murderers," Allison then pointed to Five. "I mean, look at him."

"Thanks," Five responded sarcastically. 

Five and Allison suddenly disappeared as Diego jumped through the glass in the front door. He landed on the ground, in front of Five and Allison.

"You know, the door was unlocked," Five said as he opened it.

Diego got up and brushed off his shoulder. "Yeah, well, my way works just fine." Then he ordered, "Spread out. Yell if you’re in trouble."

"Inspiring leadership," Diego heard Five say as he entered the kitchen. Diego immediately saw Vanya's picture on a flyer for an upcoming orchestra concert, just two nights away. The flyer also indicated that this would be Vanya's debut concert as First Chair. He then realized that Vanya might have actually shown up at the Academy to invite all of the siblings to her concert. If that was the case, Diego would feel more like shit.

Diego had been bitter toward Vanya ever since she had written her autobiography, which was a basic smear of the family. Not everything she had written about them were absolute truths, just from her perspective. But Vanya was his sister, and she was with a dangerous man who had killed his own father at age thirteen. No matter how he thought of any of his siblings, they were family; and Diego always protected his family.

"Guys, you need to see this!" Allison called from the attic. Diego and Five arrived to find pictures of the Academy siblings with their eyes scratched out, and figurines with the heads burnt off. "This was never about Vanya! This was about us!"

Before Diego could respond, he saw blood gushing down Five's leg, right as Five collapsed. Diego lifted Five's shirt, revealing a shrapnel wound in his abdomen. "Jesus, Five. Why didn’t you say anything?"

"You…have to keep going. So…close," Five managed to spit out before he lost consciousness. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego and Allison carried Five through the Academy entrance and placed him on a couch in the living room. "Damn it!" Allison exclaimed. "We should have taken him to the hospital."

"A kid with a shrapnel wound might raise some questions," Five mumbled, barely conscious.

"Yeah, well, so does the murder shrine in Harold Jenkins' attic," Allison objected while checking Five's midsection. "He’s losing a lot of blood. What do we do?"

"We gotta get the shrapnel out," Diego said, and then something caught his attention. Someone, that is.

Mom was walking through the foyer.

"Mom!" Diego ran to her. He grabbed her hand and saw that her arm had been stitched up. "How are you still walking around?"

"One foot in front of the other," Mom smiled at him. "Why? How do you do it?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego watched Mom sew Five up in his room while Allison tried contacting Vanya. She reported back to Diego that Vanya wasn’t picking up at home and the receptionist at the music school where Vanya worked said that Vanya was a no-show at her classes that day.

Diego nodded, staring ahead at his mother.

"Hey," Allison placed her hand on Diego's arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Diego sighed. "I don’t know; it’s just surreal seeing her. I just want to tell her that I’m s---" He cut himself off, ignoring Allison's confused expression. "We don’t have enough time. We’ve gotta go."

"I don’t know," Allison objected. "Five's lying there unconscious. We need him."

Diego then thought about Klaus; he had needed to check up on his brother. "Did you happen to see Luther or Klaus while you were on the phone?"

"No, I didn’t," Allison said. "I suppose that Luther is still going through his moon research. I know that Klaus wasn’t looking too good this morning."

Diego nodded. "He’s going through withdrawals."

"What?" Allison exclaimed as she followed Diego to Klaus' room, which was empty.

"Shit," Diego muttered. "I’m gonna ask Pogo if he knows where they are."

So he knocked on Pogo's bedroom door. "Yes, Master Diego?" Pogo greeted him as he opened the door.

"Do you happen to know where Luther and Klaus are?" Allison asked.

Pogo sighed, and then he dropped his gaze. "I’m afraid that Master Luther is quite upset right now."

"Why?" Allison asked. "Is he here?"

"Unfortunately, Master Luther just learned that your father had no purpose in sending him to the moon. He had wanted Master Luther to feel useful after his accident."

"What?!" Diego exclaimed. "Is he here?" He repeated Allison's question. "And is Klaus here?"

"I’m afraid not, Master Diego," Pogo said. "I heard commotion between them, during which time Master Luther said he was going out to abuse substances like Master Klaus."

"_ What?! _" Diego and Allison exclaimed in unison.

"Yes," Pogo sighed again. "And I believe that Master Klaus went out to try and stop him."

"Shit!"

"Master Diego!" Pogo scolded him.

"Sorry, Pogo," Diego said. "And thanks." 

"So, now what do we do?" Allison asked Diego in the foyer.

"Look," Diego said, "if it was just Luther, I wouldn't be concerned. But you’re right that Klaus is in no shape to chasing Luther around."

"Well, there’s one other concern if Luther gets high," Allison said. "Remember how Klaus always got high so he wouldn’t have to deal with his power? Luther won’t have his superhuman strength to defend himself."

"Okay, listen," Diego ordered as he handed her the police file. "Peabody doesn’t have another address, but there’s another relation listed: his grandmother owns a cabin in Jackpine Cove. You’re probably better able to reach out to Vanya than I can right now. I’ve said some pretty nasty things to her since the memorial. Plus, most of the bouncers at the bars know me, since they've called me to pick up Klaus before. I’ll try tracking them down, and then we’ll meet you at the cabin."

"Okay. Just be careful," Allison said as she opened the door, and then she immediately slammed it shut. "Uh, there’s a bunch of police cars outside."

"Shit," Diego realized. "They’re here for me. They think I did something."

"What do they think you did?"

"Murder."

Allison's eyes widened. "Did you?"

"No, of course not. Why would you ask that about me anyway?"

"Well, you _ do _ carry knives with you everywhere," Allison pointed out.

"Look," Diego said. "Give me five minutes, and then have them search the house."

Allison knew what Diego meant. There was a secret compartment behind Dad's office that no one on the outside knew about. After the cops did an (almost) thorough sweep of the mansion before leaving empty-handed, Allison walked in her dad’s office. "They’re gone," she called out.

"Okay, now I need a favor from you," Diego said. "You take Dad’s car, and I’ll drive your rental. The cops know Dad’s car with that vanity plate."

Allison pulled her key out of her purse. "Be careful."

"You too. Vanya needs you."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego checked five dance clubs before approaching a rave. One of his two bouncer buddies was at the door. "Diego!" The bouncer exclaimed with a look of dread on his face.

"Hey. I’m looking for my brother again. Actually, two of them."

"Yeah," the bouncer hesitated. "Uh, dude, I don’t know how to tell you this---"

"He’s all right!" The other bouncer ran to the door. "Diego!"

"He is?" The first bouncer exclaimed. "I thought that guy killed him!"

"He did, but the dude just came back to life."

Before Diego could ask what was going on he heard a yell, "Luther!"

"Bouncer kicked him out," someone said.

Then Klaus stumbled to the door. "Diego?"

"Hey, dude, are you okay?" The first bouncer asked.

Klaus nodded, seemingly in a daze, trembling and sweating.

"Wait," Diego turned to the bouncers. "Someone beat him up?"

"I’m fine, D." Klaus said shakily.

"No," Diego demanded, putting a hand on Klaus' trembling shoulder. "What happened to him?" He asked the bouncers.

The first bouncer answered, "I think he was trying to break up a fight. Someone was going after a big hairy dude who was high as fuck, and your brother jumped on the attacker's back. The guy threw him on the ground and he hit his head."

"Shit," Diego ran his hand through Klaus' sweaty dark curls. "You sure you’re okay, bro?"

"Yeah, I’m fine."

Diego then looked at the bouncers. "The 'big hairy dude' is actually the other brother that I’m looking for."

The bouncers exchanged glances. "Uh, yeah, that was the other guy we kicked out," the second bouncer said. "Sorry, man, we would’ve called if we knew he was your brother."

"It’s okay," Diego said. Then he looked at Klaus. "You up to me driving us around and looking for Luther?"

"He actually left with a woman, so he’s not alone," the first bouncer said.

Diego stared at the bouncers. "What?! Shit, well, thanks anyway." He turned to Klaus. "I guess we’ll go home, then."

After Diego started the car engine, he looked at Klaus, still shaking. "Hey. I’m proud of you, man."

Klaus' green eyes widened. "You are? Why?"

"For trying to help Luther while going through withdrawals. So, tell me, what happened in there?"

"Well, earlier today Luther found out---"

"About the moon mission," Diego completed Klaus' sentence. "Pogo told me."

"Yeah, so he got shitfaced drunk and then said he 'wanted to be Number Four' and do what I did. I tried to stop him."

"What happened inside the rave?" Diego asked, and Klaus explained that Luther was hanging out with a girl who had thought he was a furry. Luther had just taken some drugs and was holding another pill which Klaus threw away from him. "Good for you," Diego said.

Klaus shook his head. "I almost caved in. The flashing lights at the rave reminded me…." Klaus' voice trailed off. "It was too overwhelming. I grabbed the pill and almost took it when I saw the guy with the bat go after Luther. I’m sorry."

"You don’t need to be sorry," Diego said. "You didn’t take anything. Just, please come to me in the future if you’re tempted again."

Klaus nodded. 

"So, have you been able to conjure Dave yet?"

"No," Klaus replied. "But when I was dead at the rave, I did talk to Dad."


	3. Chapter 3

Diego listened as Klaus described having been in a monochromatic world with the exception of his brightly-colored tank top. God, who was apparently a girl on a bicycle, said that Klaus couldn't stay because she didn’t like him, and sent Klaus to where he thought he would see Dave; instead, he talked to Dad. After repeatedly scolding Klaus for taking so long to contact him, and after Dad admitted that he should have thrown away the unopened moon research, Dad indeed confirmed that his death wasn’t accidental: he killed himself hoping that the family would reunite and stop the apocalypse. 

"Shit," Diego muttered.

"He was about to tell me 'something of great importance' when I came back to at the rave," Klaus said.

Diego reached over and patted Klaus on the shoulder. "I’m glad you’re okay, man, but I’m gonna have Mom check you out when we get back home."

"Wait. Mom?!"

Diego then updated Klaus about Leonard Peabody; and yeah, Mom was alive again. After they arrived at the mansion Grace checked Klaus over and cleared him of any head injuries. "Right now you need rest, Klaus dear." She looked at Diego. "You both do."

Diego nodded. He was exhausted. "Come on," he nudged Klaus off the infirmary bed as Klaus was dozing off. "Luther and Five should both be okay tomorrow morning, and we’ll go to Jackpine Cove. How are your withdrawals?"

"Not as bad now." 

Diego walked Klaus to his room and took off Klaus' shoes and socks. "You sure you’re okay?" Diego asked as Klaus lay down.

"Yeah," Klaus said and closed his eyes. "I’m…just…." He fell asleep before he could get the last word out.

Diego ran his hand through Klaus' hair. "I’m glad you’re okay, bro," he whispered.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sure enough, Five was back to his arrogant self that next morning. "What are you guys still  _ doing _ here?" He yelled at Diego in the hallway.

"Allison went there last night," Diego told him. "We were waiting for you and Luther to recover so we all could go together. I’m gonna go wake him now."

"What’s wrong with Luther?"

"Too much fun at a rave." Diego then rapped on Luther's door.

Luther opened it. He had covered his waist in his blanket. Diego looked past Luther at the woman in his bed.

"Real classy, Luther!" Diego snapped. 

"What do you want?!" Luther retorted.

"In case you’ve forgotten, we have a mission to do."

"Save your breath," Luther muttered bitterly. "I’m through with missions. With the Academy."

Diego sighed as the woman stirred. "Luther, Dad was wrong to lie to you. To all of us---"

"Look, I did my time, all right?" Luther stepped out into the hallway and closed his bedroom door. "Four years up there, watching and waiting because he said the world needed me. Four years of nothing but soy paste and processed air because I was naive enough to believe that dads don't lie to their kids. But guess what? The joke's on me. I'm done. With all of it. With him, with you, with this family. You wanna go save the world? You go right ahead."

"Look, you wanna give up on me," Diego then turned to face both Five and now Klaus out in the hallway, "the guys," Diego then looked back to Luther, "that’s fine. But Allison deserves better than that."

"Allison?" Luther demanded. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, we got a hold of Harold Jenkins' police file," Diego informed Luther. "Turns out Vanya's boyfriend is a convicted murderer. Who would’ve saw that coming? A little hard to trust anyone who wears corduroy."

"Wait," Luther objected, "so, where’s Allison now?"

"She decided to go after Harold Jenkins. Alone."

After a beat, Luther exclaimed, "You should have  _ led _ with that! Jesus Christ!" He quickly scrambled back into his room. Within a couple of minutes the woman stumbled out. Diego offered to show her out the door.

"Okay. Let’s get going," Five said as Luther stepped out in the hallway. Five zapped away, leaving Klaus to stare at Luther.

"Wait, was that, like…is that your f---"

Luther stared at him with a pained expression.

"No way!" Klaus cheered as he danced around the hall. "Whoo! He popped his cherry!"

" _ GUYS! _ " Five impatiently called from the foyer.

"Coming, Numero Cinco," Klaus sang, as Luther tore past him and down the stairs.

Diego drove and let Klaus sit up front with him. "Klaus, I think you need to tell the others what you told me last night."

"What is he talking about?" Luther asked.

Klaus turned to face him and Five. "I conjured Dad last night."

Luther and Five stared at him. "I thought you haven’t been able to conjure anyone in years," Luther said.

"Ah, yes, I know, but I’m sober! Ta-da! I got clean yesterday to talk to someone special, and ended up having a conversation with dear old Daddy himself."

"Okay, I’ll play," Five said, disbelieving. "What did the old man have to say?"

"Well, he gave me the usual lecture about my appearance and failures in life, yadda, yadda, yadda. No surprise there; even the afterlife can’t soften a hardass like him. But he did mention his murder or lack thereof, because…" Klaus then concluded in a forced dramatic fashion, "...he killed himself.

"I don’t have time for your games, Klaus," Luther said.

"He’s telling the truth," Diego defended his little brother.

"Why'd he do it, then?" Five asked.

"He said it was the only way to get the family back together again."

"Dad wouldn’t just kill himself," Luther argued.

"Well, you said it yourself," Five told Luther. "He was depressed; holed up in his office and room day and night.".

"No. There weren’t any signs," Luther objected. "Suicidal people exhibit certain tendencies, strange behaviors." 

"Like sending someone to the moon for no reason?" Klaus quipped. 

"I swear to God, Klaus, if you’re lying---"

"You’ll what?" Diego interrupted Luther. "Beat the shit out of him? He already got the shit beat out of him at the rave last night trying to save your sorry ass."

" _ What?! _ " Luther exclaimed. 

Diego suddenly pulled the car over and got out. Then he opened the back passenger door next to Luther. "Get out!"

"Diego!" Luther objected, "We need to find Allison!"

Diego then yanked Luther out of the car. "Allison will be fine. But you  _ won’t  _ be if you don’t shut up and listen to me for a minute. Klaus just didn’t conjure Dad; Klaus was sent to the afterlife after your one-night-stand's boyfriend killed him!"

Klaus then got out as well. "It’s okay, Diego."

"No, it’s  _ not _ okay! You could have been killed permanently! No way I could handle losing you, too!"

Luther looked at Klaus. "I’m sorry, man."

Klaus smiled. "It’s okay, big guy."

" _ Guys!!! _ " Five yelled out the window. "We don’t have time for this!"

"Five, if I hear you say that one more time…." Diego then cut himself off as everyone got back in the car.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vanya stood out on the porch of the cabin, trying to concentrate on her violin playing and not on everything that had happened since last night.

After trying unsuccessfully to unleash Vanya's power, she and Leonard had gone out to dinner. As they were ready to head back, three men stood around and began harassing them. As they beat up Leonard, Vanya unleashed a force that threw the three attackers back. At the hospital, they were not only informed that two of the attackers had died, but Leonard also lost his eye.

After returning to the cabin this morning, Leonard was able to connect Vanya's powers to her emotions and sound. After lunch Leonard wanted to practice more, but Vanya wanted to rehearse for her concert instead; Leonard didn’t seem too happy about that. Maybe she should appease him.

"Hey," Vanya called out as she entered the cabin. "I’m feeling kind of hungry. Did you throw away my sandwich?"

No response.

"Leonard?"

Still no answer. Vanya suddenly felt her chest pounding.  _ Did he abandon me? _

" _ Leonard! _ " Vanya hysterically ran around the cabin. " _ LEONARD!!! _ "

_ OhmyGodheleftmeheleftmeheleftme…. _

Vanya stopped when she saw her reflection in the mirror. She then vaguely recalled being a little girl and Dad taking her to some isolation room. How come she never remembered this until now? Was it an actual memory, or a dream?

"Leonard!!! Leonard!!!"

Vanya looked at her violin and bow shaking in her hands. She drew a deep breath as she remembered Leonard say,  _ Just concentrate. Listen to everything around you. What do you hear? Let all the other sounds drop away and focus on one. Let that one sound resonate in you. _

Vanya took several deep breaths before playing her violin; as she did, the energy from her instrument swept through the hanging lights and plants.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego and the others had just entered the town limits when they noticed police tape surrounding a restaurant. Following on instinct, Diego pulled into the parking lot.

"What are you doing?" Luther exclaimed.

Without answering, Diego got out of the car and approached the police officer who seemed to be interviewing a witness to whatever had gone down.

"Excuse me!" The officer said. "You can’t be here! This is a crime scene!"

Diego whipped out his fake police badge which he had just replaced the other day. "Detective Gomez. I work in the city. I’m actually helping this family find a missing person. We think she might have come here."

"Sorry, Detective Gomez," the cop, whose name badge read Tanner, said to Diego. "All we know right now is that four men were attacked here last night. Two of them were killed. The surviving attacker is in the hospital. Apparently, the victim left this morning AMA."

"Do you have the names of the survivors?" Diego asked as he observed Klaus get out of the car and start talking in midair.  _ Great, Klaus. Just don’t blow my cover. _

"I don’t, but our Sergeant went to the hospital to interview him." The cop picked up his radio. "Hey, Cheddar, I have a city detective here who is also trying to find out about the murder here. Says he’s with a family looking for a missing person."

White noise, and then Cheddar responded, "The one surviving attacker just now went AWOL. There is no one else at the hospital."

"Thanks," Diego headed toward the car. "Come on, Klaus," he said as they both got in. "What the hell were you doing out there, anyway?"

"Oh, I just heard an impressive story by a couple of ghosts," Klaus said as Diego started the engine. "The two other attackers who were killed."

"So, Peabody wasn’t one of them?" Diego inquired. "What did they say?"

"He said that the guy they attacked had actually paid them upfront to do it."

"Come again?" Diego said.

"Yeah, he claimed to impress his girlfriend. They took it too far and started harassing her, too---"

"They  _ hit _ her?" Nothing much made Diego angrier than violence against women.

"I don’t think so," Klaus answered. "But what they  _ did _ tell me was that some force emitted from the girlfriend, throwing them against the wall. That was how they were killed."

"That makes no sense," Luther argued.

"Wait, so they told you that Vanya had some sort of power?" Five asked.

Klaus shrugged. "I guess."

"Well, we need to head to the cabin," Diego said, "since Vanya and Peabody are obviously not at the hospital."

The siblings were all relieved to find the family car there. They were horrified, however, when they rushed in to find Allison lying on the floor in shock, in a pool of blood from her slashed neck.

  
" _ Allison! _ " Luther ran to her and gathered her in his arms. Klaus tried to comfort Luther while Diego, Five, and Ghost!Ben looked on helplessly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so I’m sorry to Allison fans. I had debated whether I wanted to include Vanya's attack of her. Things will eventually get better for both of them.


	4. Chapter 4

Vanya staggered inside Leonard's house, still in shock at what she had just done.

She killed Allison. After she learned that Dad had made Allison rumor Vanya into thinking she was ordinary when they were four years old. That was where the isolation room had come in. Vanya remembered everything.

She reacted and lashed out at Allison, claiming Allison had known all along. It was when Allison tried rumoring her that Vanya accidentally slashed Allison's throat with her violin bow.

Leonard drew Vanya a bath and sat with her as she stared numbly ahead.

"Your family," Leonard said. "They'll be coming for us soon." Vanya said nothing so Leonard continued, "It’s okay. You don’t have to worry. We’re a team now. Take the fight to them."

"Why would they be coming for me?" Vanya managed to say.

"Because you killed Allison!" Leonard chuckled.

"No, I lost control," Vanya said shakily. "Everything just happened so fast."

"I know. But it’s not your fault. You were protecting yourself."

"They won’t see it that way," Vanya murmured sadly. I’ll---I’ll---I’ll explain it to them. I just need to get to them, and I need to explain it to them."

"They want to hurt you," Leonard sweetly objected. "I’m the _ only _ one on your side who understands just how special you truly are. I knew it the first time I met you. I see it now as I look at your face. But they don’t see it. They never have; they never will. Say it."

"I can’t."

"Say it for me."

"I’m special," Vanya blankly muttered.

"Got it. Say it again," Leonard ordered.

"I’m special."

"See?" Leonard chuckled. "That wasn’t too hard." 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Luther and the others charged through the Academy doors and raced to the infirmary. After Grace inspected her injuries she concluded, "She’s suffered a severe laceration to her larynx. One of you will need to give blood."

"I will!" The men all exclaimed in unison.

"I will!" Luther insisted. "I’m doing it!"

"I’m afraid that’s not possible, dear boy." Pogo said sadly. "Your blood is more compatible with mine."

Luther glared at Pogo. _ After all of the shit I found out, you’re telling me this?! _

Klaus immediately held out his arm to Grace and said to Luther, "Hey, don’t sweat it. I got this, big guy. I love needles!"

"Master Klaus," Pogo objected, "Your blood is --- how shall I say this? Too polluted."

Klaus was crestfallen as Diego stepped up. "Move. I’ll do it." As Grace held the needle up, Diego suddenly fainted.

"No!" Klaus tried to grab him but was unsuccessful.

Pogo looked at Grace. "Stick him."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After Diego came back to, Klaus helped him to the living room where the two agreed they needed to find Vanya, while Five tried prioritizing the apocalypse. "Vanya is not important!"

"Hey," Diego firmly said to Five. "That’s _ your _ sister. A little heartless, even for you, Five."

Five sighed in exasperation. "I’m not saying I don’t care about her; but if the apocalypse happens today, she dies along with the seven billion of us. Harold Jenkins is our first priority."

"I agree. Let’s go," Diego ordered the others.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vanya sat at Leonard's kitchen table while he packed more things. She flashed back to what she had done to Allison. She quickly rushed to the sink and splashed water on her face. As she reached for a towel, she accidentally knocked Leonard's book bag, spilling its contents.

"Shit," she muttered as she bent down to pick everything up. And that was when she noticed the very familiar journal with the initials "R. H." on the front cover. She opened it to a page that was earmarked about herself, Number Seven. She could barely register everything she was skim-reading on the page.

_ The power she exhibits thus far appears to be unlimited, uncontrollable, and dangerous. It is for the greater good that her abilities should remain a secret. _ _   
_ _ Methods of limiting her power - _ _   
_ _\- Mood altering medication to keep her sedated_.

"Oh, my God." Vanya had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. Dad knew she had these powers all along and lied to her about them. Even worse yet, she now realized what Leonard had actually been up to all along --- or Harold Jenkins, rather. 

Meanwhile, Leonard came down the stairs. "Vanya, let’s get going." Leonard then saw what Vanya was holding. "Vanya, I can explain," he said nervously.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The three Hargreeves brothers arrived at Harold Jenkins' home to find him dead with multiple sharp objects in his chest.

"No sign of Vanya," Klaus said.

"Let’s get out of here before the cops come," Diego ordered. 

"In a minute." Five walked up to Jenkins' face and lifted the bandage from his missing eye.

Diego covered his hand over his mouth. "Come on, Five. What are you---"

Five pulled the glass eye out of his pocket and inserted it in the socket.

"Ugh, wow!" Klaus exclaimed, impressed.

"Same eye color; same pupil size," Five said. "Guys, this is it! The eye I’ve been carrying around for decades, it’s found its rightful home."

"We got the guy we needed to stop the apocalypse," Klaus cheered. "Yay! Let’s go!" He started toward the door but Diego quickly grabbed the back of Klaus' shirt and stopped him.

"No, no," Five objected. "Wait! Wait! It can’t be that easy." He pulled the Commission order out of his pocket. "Look, this is the note that I got from the Commission; the one that says, 'Protect Harold Jenkins,' AKA Leonard Peabody. But who killed him? Who did this?"

"I have a crazy idea," Klaus piped up. "Crazy, but why don’t we find Vanya and ask her what happened?" Meanwhile, Five teleported out halfway through Klaus' suggestion.

"If Vanya got away from this asshole, she might be headed to the Academy," Diego pointed out. "Let’s roll."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luther sat with Allison as Grace finished bandaging Allison's neck. "Is she going to make it?" He asked Grace.

"Yes," Grace said seriously. "But her vocal cords are badly damaged. It’s a miracle that somehow her carotid artery wasn’t severed."

"Will she be able to talk?"

"It’s too soon to tell."

"More importantly," Pogo added, "Thanks to you and your brothers, she’s still with us. Grace and I can take it from here, Master Luther. Go, rest."

"You’re the last person I trust," Luther stared bitterly at Pogo as Grace left the room. "So, is what Klaus told us yesterday is true? That Dad killed himself?"

Pogo sighed. "Master Klaus is correct. "Regretfully, I helped Master Hargreeves enact his plan," Pogo sighed.

"What?" Luther snapped.

“So did Grace,” Pogo continued. “It was a difficult choice for both of us. More difficult than you could ever know. Prior to your father's death, Grace's programming was adjusted so that she was incapable of administering first aid on that fateful night.”

"So the security tape we saw?" 

"It was meant to further the murder mystery," Pogo explained. "Your father hoped that being back here, solving it together,would reignite your desire to be a team again."

"And to what end?"

"To save the world, of course."

Luther glared at Pogo. "First the moon mission and now this. You watched me search for answers and said nothing.” He then raised his voice. "Anything else you want to share, Pogo? Any other damn secrets?!"

"It was your father's dying wish, Master Luther," Pogo sighed again. “I had no choice.

"There's always choice," Luther said bitterly. "And now, I’m not going anywhere."

Pogo sadly turned around and left the room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vanya stumbled inside her apartment, still in a daze that she killed someone else, despite Harold/Leonard deserving it. After she confronted Leonard, during which time he had admitted to killing the original First Chair so that Vanya could audition for the position, she attempted leaving. However, Leonard started repeatedly hitting the journal cover while repeating that she was weak, nothing, and ordinary. Vanya then used her power to lift him from the ground as a tornado of knives and other sharp objects pierced his chest.

She reviewed her phone messages. First was from her neighbor, Mrs. Kowalski, once again looking for her cat, Mr. Puddles. Second message was someone from the Icarus theater confirming the complimentary tickets for her siblings to attend her concert. The third was from Allison:

"_ Hey, Vanya, it’s me. I just wanted to…Things have gotten so messed up. All I ever wanted was to be a good sister to you. Guess I pretty much failed at that. But you need to call me. I love you, sis." _

Vanya looked at her violin bow, covered in Allison's blood, as she broke down crying. "_ I’m sorry! I’m sorry! _"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Allison started to come to at the infirmary. Luther grabbed her hand as she tried to speak.

"No, don’t try to talk," he said gently. "It’ll just cause more damage." He sighed. "Allison, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there." Allison continued attempting to talk, so Luther grabbed a notepad and pen.

_ VANYA, _ Allison wrote.

"We don’t know where she is."

Allison quickly shook her head and wrote below Vanya's name, _ POWERS! _

"Powers?" Luther was confused. "Uh, I don’t understand."

"I do," Pogo stood in the doorway. "It’s time for the last of your father’s secrets to come to light."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vanya reluctantly exited the taxi and stood in front of the mansion. She dreaded confronting her siblings, but she had to explain that this was an accident. After some time, Vanya had realized that Allison really did have no idea of what their father made her do. The siblings would probably never forgive her, though; and she didn’t deserve it anyway.

She slowly entered the foyer. "Hello?" She called out with a trembling voice."

"Vanya." She looked up to Luther standing on the balcony above looking mournfully at her.

"Is Allison---"

"She survived."

Vanya sighed in tremendous relief. "Thank God."

"What happened?" Luther slowly started down the stairs.

"We got in an argument. Things got out of control. I didn’t mean to hurt her. Please, you have to believe me."

"I do," Luther said quietly.

"It was an accident," Vanya pleaded. "And I was angry. It just happened. Can I see her?"

"She’s resting now. Maybe later."

"Is it okay if I wait here for a bit?" She asked uneasily.

Of course. This is your home."

With that, Luther held out his arms and she ran into them, sobbing against her brother’s stomach. "_ I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it, _" she repeated over and over.

"I can see that, Vanya," Luther said as he tightened his grip around her neck.

"Luther, you’re hurting me!"

"I’m sorry," Luther's repeated apology resonated in her head and the room shook until she passed out. He lifted her up and carried her away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this chapter, things will divert more from canon. It won’t end badly like the first season did!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: subtle hints of suicidal ideations.

When Vanya came to, she was back in that isolation chamber. She quickly ran to the door and pounded on it, screaming, "GUYS! LET ME OUT," through the window at Diego, Klaus and Luther, who couldn’t hear her.

Meanwhile, outside the chamber, Diego and Klaus stared dreadfully at her. "You locked up our sister because you _ think _ she has powers?" Diego said as Klaus looked up and down the chamber, this being somewhat too familiar to him.

"No, I know she does," Luther argued. "Pogo told me. He’s always known and so did Dad."

"Why would they hide this from us?" Diego wondered dumbfoundedly. "I mean, am I the only one who didn’t know this place existed?"

"He hid so much from us," Klaus' voice quivered.

"He did it because he was afraid. Of her."

"Oh, that’s ridiculous," Klaus turned to face Luther.

"Is it?" Luther argued. "Dad’s lied about everything else; why is this so far-fetched?"

"If you’re right, maybe she’s the one who killed Peabody," Diego pointed out.

"And slit Allison's throat."

"Woah, no," Klaus cried as he watched his sister bang on the window pleading words he could not hear. "Sorry; let's go back, all right? This is _ Vanya _ we’re talking about. Our sister, the one who always cried when we stepped on ants as kids!"

"I know it’s difficult to accept---"

"It’s not difficult to accept," Klaus yelled at Luther. "It’s _ impossible _ to accept!"

"He’s right," Diego backed Klaus up. "Look, we can’t keep her locked up without proof!"

"What more proof do you need?"

"Why don’t we just open the door, and ask her?!" Klaus started toward the door but Luther quickly yanked him away.

"No, she’s not going anywhere!"

"Even if you’re right," Diego said, "she needs our help, and we can’t do that if she’s locked in a cage!"

"Yeah," Klaus agreed. "And for all we know, she could be struggling with this new power! I mean, it must be scary --- terrifying, really --- to discover that you can do something that you never thought you could do!"

"Look, if what Pogo told me is even half true," Luther argued, "she’s not just a danger to us."

Suddenly the three brothers turned to see Allison standing at the doorway.

"Allison, what are you doing down here?" Luther objected. "You should be in bed."

Allison held up her notepad: _ LET HER GO. _

"I can’t do that. She hurt you."

Allison wrote: _ MY FAULT. _

"She stays put," Luther insisted as Allison tried to get past him. He gently pushed her back, repeating, "She stays put."

Klaus looked back at Vanya, still screaming and pleading. He remembered all of the times that he had screamed and pleaded with Dad to let him out of the mausoleum. He couldn’t watch his sister suffer the way he did.

"_ NO! _ " Klaus even surprised himself at his aggression as he yelled to Luther, "She is _ not _ staying put! Isolating her is the _ worst _ thing you can do! I know firsthand!"

"She’s staying put!" Luther said a third time.

"What do you mean, Klaus?" Diego wondered.

Luther looked at Diego, and then Klaus. "Now you’re making it all about you? Can you shut off that voice in your head that screams to be the center of attention?"

"No!" Klaus retorted. "I was asked a question and I’m gonna answer it! You know all of the special training I had to do away from you all as kids? You know that cemetery a couple of blocks away? And how there's that huge mausoleum in the center of it?! Dad locked me in there with corpses repeatedly!"

Diego stared blankly at his brother. "What the hell? When was this?"

Klaus stared at the floor. "From the time we were eight until we were thirteen."

"Jesus," Diego muttered.

Luther also stared at Klaus. Then he said, "Well, I’m sorry you went through that, but you’re not a dangerous person; in fact, until a couple of days ago, you weren’t much useful."

Diego grabbed Luther and shoved him against the wall. "Don’t you talk like that to him, especially after what he went through the other night for you!"

Luther pushed Diego away. "We’re still not letting her out!"

"_ STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU!" _Klaus screeched as his hands suddenly glowed a bright blue. "What the fuck?!"

Then Ben appeared in blue form.

"Ben?!" Luther stared at the brother they had lost thirteen years ago, as did Diego and Allison.

Ben expelled a tentacle, wrapped it around Luther, and lifted Luther into the air.

"What the hell, Ben?!" Luther exclaimed at him.

Then Ben turned to his other brothers. "Klaus. Diego. Let her out." As the two began twisting the wheel, Ben stared coldly at Luther. "You know what, Luther? I was the one who got Klaus to find your ass the other night. He was sick, and I told him there wasn’t anything you wouldn’t have done for him. But I was _ wrong _ because you still treat him like shit!"

Just then, Diego and Klaus got the door open. Ben dropped Luther, and then he disappeared to everyone except Klaus again. Meanwhile, Vanya stumbled out and ran into Allison's arms. "I’m sorry, Allison! I’m so, so sorry!"

Allison cried as she held her sister tightly.

"It’s all my fault! I’m sorry!" Vanya wailed.

_ We’ll work through this, _ Allison thought to herself. _ We’ll get past this and learn to become a family. _

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vanya and the others migrated to the living room, where Vanya told everyone of Leonard's manipulation by reading their father’s journal.

"Wait, how did he even get that journal in the first place?" Luther wondered.

_ Shit. _ Klaus suddenly remembered the items he had dumped from the box he had pawned. "Um, I guess that’s my fault."

Luther glared at him. "How?" Klaus explained what he had done the day of Dad’s funeral. "Oh, that’s brilliant," Luther said angrily.

Klaus looked over at Vanya, who wasn’t staring at him, but the floor. "I’m really sorry, Vanya! I didn’t know!"

Vanya said nothing. Klaus looked around the room. Even Diego seemed mad at him, Klaus thought.

"I really fucked up," Klaus felt his eyes sting.

"Miss Vanya." Pogo appeared in the doorway, and then he approached her. "I understand how upset you are. But I can assure you that none of your siblings bear responsibility for what happened to you as a child."

Vanya looked at Pogo. "Did you know?"

Pogo sighed. "Your father discovered that you are capable of great things, just like your brothers and sister. But your powers were too great. He only wanted to save you from yourself, as well as your siblings."

"Did you know?" Vanya repeated slowly.

"Yes, Miss Vanya. I did."

The room started to shake as Luther looked around uneasily. Next to Vanya, Allison put her arm around her sister and pulled her close. Pogo left the room and the shaking subsided.

Vanya stood up. "I’m gonna get ready for the concert," she said flatly. "You’re all invited, by the way."

"Vanya---" Diego started to say.

"No," Vanya objected. "Until I can figure out these powers, I think I should keep my distance from everyone." Without another word Vanya raced out the front door.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Klaus, what are you doing?" Ben wondered as Klaus began tearing apart his room.

"Looking for drugs."

Ben sighed. "Don’t do it."

"I’m done listening to you," Klaus snapped. "Just go away, please!"

"I like the sober you," Ben insisted.

Klaus began tearing apart the fabric in his stuffed unicorn. "Yeah, well, sobriety is overrated."

"But look where it’s gotten you!"

"Where _ has _ it gotten me?! Nowhere! I can’t talk to the person I love! Most people still don’t take me seriously! I just want to be numb again!"

Then the door flew open as Klaus pulled a baggie out of the unicorn. "I heard that," Diego charged in, saw the baggie and immediately grabbed it from his hand.

Klaus shot up from the floor. "_ Fuck you, asshole! _"

"No, fuck _ you _ for wanting to throw your sobriety away after all you’ve just accomplished!" Diego grabbed Klaus by the shoulders and pushed him on the bed.

"And for all the ways I fucked up even more!" Klaus said as tears welled in his eyes. "Mainly in that I'm the reason that dude manipulated Vanya! That, and---" Klaus cut himself off, not wanting to hurt Diego any further.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"_ What?! _" Diego repeated.

"Forget it."

"No. Tell me."

"I should have been killed instead of the lady cop! And I should have stayed dead at the rave!" Klaus put his face in his hands. "Just go."

Instead, Diego sat down next to Klaus and pulled him close as Klaus wept. "This isn’t your fault," Diego quietly talked into Klaus' mop of curls. "And about the journal, even though from our perspective, it’s only been a few days; for you it’s ten months. Don’t beat yourself up for this."

"I’m sorry, D." Klaus' words were muffled by Diego's chest.

"Shh, shh," Diego whispered as he gently rocked Klaus. "It’s okay. You have no reason to be sorry."

After a few minutes, Klaus' sobbing subsided.

"Klaus," Diego said quietly, "How come you never said anything about what Dad put you through as a kid?"

"Because…" Klaus began, "because…i---it scared the shit out of me."

"Because of the corpses?" Diego wondered.

"That, and the ghosts." Klaus' lower lip trembled. "They would always scream my name, always be too loud, and they looked just like they did when they were killed. Regardless of how they were killed. Whether they bled to death, were burned alive or torn apart."

"Jesus, Klaus."

"So, yeah, you know what I just realized?" Tears welled up in Klaus' eyes again. "Since I'm able to bring any ghost to life…."

Diego knew where Klaus was going with this. How many of these gruesome creatures would come to life for Klaus? And would they hurt them? 

Diego swallowed before answering, "Okay. So, maybe just like Vanya needs to be trained to have better control of her powers, so do you."

Klaus shook his head. "Maybe I need to get high again."

"No," Diego ordered. "I like the sober version of you. And," Diego looked directly at Klaus. "I hope you know that I _ do _ take you seriously."

"I shouldn’t have said that," Klaus sighed. "I just thought you were mad at me along with everyone else."

"No, I was never mad at you." Diego objected. "When you said that about the journal, I was just thinking how that made sense that he found out."

"I screwed up."

"Klaus, you also were responsible for Vanya getting out of that damn cage. And because Luther was high at the rave, his power was suppressed; that dude probably would have killed Luther, permanently. And with Vanya, just give her some time. She’s been through a shit ton of stuff in two days. You both have. And when she comes around, you’re actually going to be the best help for her."

Klaus jerked back his head. "What? I don’t know how to train anyone!"

"I mean, emotionally," Diego said. "First of all, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you as much as I should have---"

"Don’t sweat it, big guy. It’s not like I’ve ever been much of an open book."

"Well, I can understand how you might’ve felt ignored by most of us like she has," Diego said.

"And we both have broken hearts," Klaus added.

"I wasn’t going to come out and say it, but yeah," Diego agreed.

"What she went through was worse," Klaus said. "She was manipulated and hurt by him."

"It’s not worse, just different." Diego placed his hand on Klaus' shoulder. "Listen. I really mean it when I say I’m going to do a better job of being there for you." He sighed. "I also have to forgive Vanya for her autobiography, eventually, if I’m going to help her, too."

Just then Five burst through Klaus' door, followed by Luther.

"_ Christ _ on a _ cracker! _" Klaus exclaimed. "You guys ever heard of knocking?"

Five was carrying a newspaper as he said, horrified: "Guys! This is it! The apocalypse is still on! The world ends today!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another TW concerning more obvious suicidal ideations.

"I thought you said this was over," Luther objected as he and the other four siblings --- and Ben in ghost form --- congregated back in the living room.

"I was wrong, okay?" Five held up the paper. "This newspaper, I found it in the future the day I got stuck. The headline hasn’t changed!"

"No, that doesn’t mean anything," Diego said. "The timeline could've been altered since that newspaper came out this morning."

"You’re not  _ listening _ to me!" Five yelled. "I thought Harold Jenkins was the cause, but he was the fuse; Vanya is the bomb! Vanya causes the apocalypse!"

"How?" Luther asked dumbfoundedly. Then he thought of something and asked Allison, "She attacked you with her violin bow, right?"

Allison nodded and then scribbled furiously,  _ BUT WE’RE RECONCILING!!! _

"Yeah, she was fine until Pogo set her off," Luther pointed out. "We don’t know what frame of mind she’s in now." He looked at Diego and Klaus. "We shouldn’t have let her out of the---"

" _ No,  _ Luther! Do  _ not  _ start with that again!" Diego stood up to face Luther.

Luther stepped back, not wanting to waste time getting in another boxing match with Diego. "Look," he eyed everyone as Diego sat back down next to Klaus, "I hate to be the one to say this, but everyone needs to prepare."

"For what?" Diego grumbled.

"To do whatever it takes to stop Vanya."

Allison shot up and swatted Luther with her notepad.

"We may not have a choice."

"Bullshit," Diego argued. "There’s always options."

_ There’s always choice, _ Luther had said bitterly to Pogo earlier. But now, after finding out how dangerous Vanya truly was, Luther could understand the secrecy. Allison had admitted to Luther how much she had abused her own power before she had lost custody of her daughter; she hadn’t used her power since then, until last night. What if Vanya would have misused these tremendous powers growing up? She could have offed anyone for pissing her off. Perhaps none of the Hargreeves would be around today. For those reasons, he could forgive his father and Pogo; they were just trying to protect everyone.

Meanwhile, Allison wrote:  _ SHE’S OUR SISTER! _

"We’re the only ones capable of stopping this," Luther objected. "We have a responsibility to Dad."

"To Dad?!" Diego again rose from the couch. "No, I’ve had enough about---" 

"He sacrificed  _ everything _ to bring us back together!"

"I’m with Luther on this one," Five piped up. "We can’t give her a chance to fight back---"

"How do you know she’ll---"

"There are billions of lives at stake," Five interrupted Diego. "We’re past trying to save just one."

"Hey, guys," Klaus said as he flipped through Five's newspaper.

"Not now, Klaus!" Luther snapped.

Klaus shot up from the couch and stood next to Diego facing Luther. Before he could think Klaus blurted out, "You know, I liked you a lot better  _ before _ you got laid!" Suddenly he stopped as Luther's eyes widened. Klaus looked over at Allison, who began staring daggers at Number One. Klaus stammered, "Which was a complete --- it wasn’t his fault 'cause he was ridiculously high, right?" He looked nervously at Luther. "And the girl, she thought he was a furry!"

"Stop," Luther snapped at Klaus as Allison grabbed her notepad and stormed up the stairs. Luther chased after her.

"Me and my big mouth," Klaus muttered as he sat back down.

"Hey, wait," Diego sat down with him. "What were you going to say?"

Klaus opened the paper to Vanya's concert flyer.

"That’s right. Her concert is tonight."

"And she got tickets for all of us," Klaus reminded Diego.

"Good!" Five declared. "We can ambush and hopefully subdue her there."

"Uh, that would be a hell fucking no," Diego retorted. "If we go, we go to watch her perform."

"Not if she does to the theater what she almost did to the Academy!" Five teleported away before Diego could argue further.

"That arrogant bastard," Diego muttered to Klaus. Meanwhile, Klaus still felt guilty for blurting out Luther's secret.

Within a few seconds Five reappeared. "Damn it! Now we have to wait for Luther and Allison. They’re on the phone with Claire."

"Five, a few minutes isn’t going to make any difference," Diego argued. He looked at the clock on the wall. "Vanya's concert isn’t for another hour, anyway."

"Ben just told me that if Luther keeps this up with Vanya, he wants me to bring him back out so we can lock  _ Luther _ in the vault!"

"Uh, wait," Five looked dumbfounded at Klaus. "Ben?"

"That’s right," Diego realized. "You were gone all afternoon. You don’t know all the shit that went down." Diego recapped Five on the secret chamber, and Klaus' apparent new superpower.

"So, Ben's here? Now?"

"He’s always been with me, since not long after he died. Sometimes I couldn’t communicate with him because I was too high. But when I saw Dad in the afterlife, Dad said I had barely scratched the surface of my potential."

"Wow," Five beamed, impressed.

"He says hi, by the way."

"Uh, hi, Ben," Five said awkwardly. 

"So, where the hell were you all afternoon, anyway?" Diego asked Five.

"Well, I had a couple of errands to run, one of which had to do with you."

"Come again?"

"Hazel stopped by earlier."

" _ What?! _ " Diego glared at Five.

"Hey," Five said, "he didn’t kill Patch. His partner Cha-Cha did."

"So what?" Diego argued. "They were both there that night.  _ And, _ they both kidnapped and tortured Klaus."

"This half of the partnership gave me both of their guns, which will clear you because the ballistics will match Patch's crime scene. I just got back from submitting them anonymously to the police department. Hazel wanted a way out. He wanted a fresh start. And he happened to have in his possession the one thing that could do our family a little good. So, it’s time to move on."

"Diego?"

Diego turned to Klaus who looked pleadingly at him with those green damn puppy-dog eyes. He then remembered Klaus' reaction at the motel. He sighed and turned back to Five. "Okay. Hazel's off the hook. And I won’t go out of my way to look for Cha-Cha. But if I happen to run into her, she’s fair game."

"Good enough," Five said.

Luther and Allison then came back down the stairs. Luther glared at Klaus. "Don’t talk to me."

Klaus shot up from his seat once more. "You know,  _ fuck _ you, Luther! After everything I did for you, and everything I put myself through --- not just at the rave, but when you’d strangled me earlier --- you have  _ no right _ to keep treating me like shit!"

Then Diego rose. "What the hell are you talking about, Klaus?!"

"Oh, yeah, when Luther first found out about the moon and was getting drunk, he was pissed off that I couldn’t conjure Dad as I was just starting to get clean, so he tried to choke me."

Diego saw red as he glared at Luther. Without taking his eyes off him, Diego said, "Klaus, get Ben out again." Klaus clenched his fists but nothing happened.  _ Stress or fear must trigger these powers, _ Diego realized, remembering that Klaus had yelled at him and Luther for fighting when Ben had appeared before. He hated to do this, but he had to. So he turned an screamed in Klaus' face, " _ GET HIM NOW! _ "

And it worked. Ben again appeared in blue form, as he again raised Luther from the ground with his tentacles.

"Jesus, what now, Ben?!" Luther yelled from midair.

"First of all," Ben narrowed his eyes at Luther. "Klaus and Diego are right; you need to treat Klaus better. Secondly, Vanya needs our  _ help! _ Not our hostility! Diego, Klaus and I are going to her concert tonight. I’m guessing Allison will, too. We are going to watch her  _ perform, _ not to fight her. And if you go, you need to  _ promise _ me right now that you will not attack her, no matter what, or I swear to God that Klaus, Diego and I will go back down to that basement and lock  _ you _ in the chamber!"

Allison then held up her notepad.  _ MAKE THAT KLAUS, DIEGO, BEN  _ _ AND _ _ I WILL LOCK YOU UP! _

"Allison!" Luther pleaded.

Allison stood with Ben, Klaus and Diego.

Luther sighed, defeated. "Okay. I won’t do anything, so long as she doesn’t come after any of us first."

"Fair enough," Ben disappeared again to the others and dropped Luther back to the floor.

"So, I need to find something to wear," Klaus looked at Allison. "Can I raid your closet again?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vanya had picked up another violin bow at the music store on her way home. She took her other bow with Allison's blood, lit her fireplace and burned it. She spent the remainder of her time practicing her solo, trying to calm down. Eventually, it started to work: she seemed to play just as beautifully as she did at the audition, and she indeed felt better as she changed into her tuxedo outfit and applied even more makeup than she had been doing the past couple of days.

Her happier feelings subsided as soon as she walked out the door and walked toward the bus stop. As she crossed the street she wasn’t paying attention and a car skidded in front of her. " _ Get out of the way, bitch! _ " A man yelled out the window.

Before Vanya knew it, a surge of anger emitted from her and the car flipped over on its top.

_ Jesus! _ Vanya darted her eyes around. No one else was nearby. She quickly tore down the street to the bus stop.

_ Oh, my God. I keep killing people. I can’t keep doing this. _

As Vanya's bus pulled up, she had already decided what she needed to do. She would perform at her concert tonight, the only opportunity she would ever have to play a First-Chair solo. Because since she couldn’t get these powers under control, it was better for her family and everyone around her if she no longer existed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, it will get just a little darker before things get better for the siblings, but they all will get relief soon. 💖


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This should be the last TW regarding a suicide attempt, and mentions of past suicide attempts. Tread carefully; it’s a bit intense, but things get better from here on out.

Allison and Klaus helped each other primp for the concert. Klaus chose the same skirt he had worn to the funeral; despite it being a little dated, he actually liked it. He wore a metallic gray sweater, long kitten-heeled boots and Allison also lent him her black leather jacket, as well as her hot-pink boa for a splash of color. While he didn’t wear his military overshirt, of course, he still sported the dog tags under his sweater. He had never taken them off since his return from 1968.

Allison, meanwhile, chose a red turtleneck dress to hide her throat bandage. She also had enough time to paint Klaus' nails.

Diego, of course, kept his usual outfit but at least his knife harness was hidden in his denim jacket.

Luther kept his outfit as well, and while Klaus and Allison were getting ready, Luther decided to take care of something else. In case the world did end tonight. He knocked on Pogo's bedroom door. 

"Yes, dear boy?" Pogo opened it.

"Pogo, I’m---"

"I know, Master Luther. I’m sorry, too, that your father and I were never forthcoming to all of you."

Luther sighed. "I don’t know what’s gonna happen tonight. I don’t know if the world is going to end, or what to do about Vanya. I’m outvoted four to two on stopping her."

Pogo raised his brow. "Four to two? Does this mean that Master Klaus---"

Luther nodded. "He’s actually been clean since Wednesday."

"So Master Ben has appeared to all of you."

Luther nodded again. "Pogo, I don’t know what to do about Vanya. She’s still unstable."

"Master Luther, the best thing you, your brothers and sister can do is show Miss Vanya that she is loved. I understand that her autobiography further drove a wedge between all of you and she, and that is something you all need to work among yourselves---"

"I don’t care about that anymore," Luther said wearily. "But do you think I should go to her concert? Not to fight her, but to watch her play?"

"I believe that would help. But please be careful, dear boy."

Luther looked at Pogo. "If we don’t make it through tonight, I love you."

"I love you, too, Master Luther."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The tickets were for front-row seats. As the players took their own seats and began warming up, they waited for Vanya to appear, knowing she would come out before the conductor. Allison hoped that Vanya would see all her siblings in the audience, supporting her.

As Vanya came out when the concert was to start, she scanned the audience and quickly saw Allison, Klaus and Diego beaming at her. Vanya smiled back at them.

Klaus squeezed Allison's hand. "I think we’re gonna be okay," he whispered.

Vanya's debut solo began. She played flawlessly. Klaus relaxed in his seat, mesmerised by the music. He closed his eyes and smiled. Everything was perfect.

Within a few minutes, some commotion was heard out in the lobby. The siblings turned to find a couple dozen masked gunmen run in the auditorium and start shooting.

"_ EVERYBODY GET OUT!!! _ " Luther yelled to the nearest audience members as they all scrambled out of their seats and tore out of the theater, as did all of the orchestra members, except Vanya. " _ TAKE COVER! _" Luther ordered his siblings.

In that moment, Vanya observed the scene, the massive gunshots triggering her powers and making the building shake. _ Shit! _ In that same moment she knew the gunmen were after the others, not her. _ My powers. This apocalypse they’re talking about. I’m supposed to cause it! _ She quickly resumed playing her violin, trying her best to concentrate on the music and not the fact they were trying to kill her siblings for something she was supposed to cause.

Soon Klaus' hands glowed and Ben took out the remaining shooters after Diego and Five had killed several of them on their own. At the same time, Cha-Cha sauntered in the theater; Diego charged after her and the two fought backstage. Diego got blow after blow in and was just about to strangle her when Klaus' words came to mind: _ You do know that killing these people is not going to make you feel any better. _ In that same split second, he thought of Eudora. Someone who always saw the good in people, no matter how much shit she saw on the streets. He realized that killing Cha-Cha would not be honoring Eudora's memory.

So he dropped her and walked away. Klaus watched her stagger out the door. Then he turned back to watch Vanya. The siblings all looked on in shock as Vanya's black tuxedo suit and boots, her brown eyes, and her violin all turned white. "Holy shit!" Klaus yelled.

Vanya dropped her violin and bow as she slowly began glowing brighter. The building began to tremble, gradually shaking harder.

"_ Vanya, what are you doing? _" Luther cried out.

"Just go," Vanya said with tears brimming in her eyes.

Klaus knew right away what was happening. "She’s trying to kill herself!"

"Vanya, don’t do this," Diego pleaded.

"I’m just going to keep hurting people! I know I’m supposed to cause the apocalypse! It’s best that I’m gone."

_ I can’t let her do this. _ Klaus began to step forward, but Diego quickly grabbed his arm. "Klaus, _ don’t! _"

Klaus yanked his arm away. "I _ have _ to talk to her. You even said I can best help her."

Diego sighed. Klaus was right. He watched Klaus cautiously walk toward the stage.

"Vanya?"

"Go away, Klaus," Vanya cried as she was becoming bright like a light bulb.

"Vanya, I’m going to walk on the stage. I’ll stand a few feet away from you. I won’t try to grab you, I promise. I won’t touch you unless you want me to. I just want to talk to you." Klaus felt tears in his own eyes as he slowly walked onstage. As promised, he faced her from several feet away. "Vanya, I don’t know everything you’ve gone through, but there’s a lot that I can understand. Dad repeatedly locked me in a mausoleum with corpses for five years as a kid." Tears fell as Klaus continued, "and I know what it’s like to feel worthless and useless, and to think that no one gave a shit about me! I took drugs for many years because I couldn’t handle the ghosts." Klaus took a deep breath as he continued with voice trembling, "And I know what it’s like to want to die. I never told anyone this, but a few of the overdoses I’d had when we were sixteen and seventeen weren’t accidental."

Diego's heart sank as he heard Klaus say these things. He had always suspected back then, and even throughout their adult life, that this was the case. 

"And I’ve wanted to die this week, too!" Klaus continued tearfully. "When Hazel and Cha-Cha attacked the house, they kidnapped and tortured me for twenty-four hours before I escaped with their time-traveling briefcase. I ended up in the Vietnam War for ten months and met my true love, who died in my arms on the front lines."

Five felt a twinge of guilt over having badgered Klaus about the briefcase and calling him a moron. He had figured Klaus' moodiness was due to the effects of time travel. He was so focused on the apocalypse that he didn’t consider to find out if Klaus was truly okay.

"So maybe I can’t fully understand what you went through with that guy, but I do know a broken heart. And even though I’ve gotten clean, and I can bring out Ben, and I’ve talked to other ghosts and even got stuck talking to Dad, I haven’t been able to conjure Dave, the person I love, since! I also wanted to die when I found out my part in that guy doing what he did."

Diego had suspected all of this, too. He swallowed the lump in his throat. He hoped Klaus would stop before Diego started bawling like a baby.

"And most of all, I can understand having a power that you’re scared shitless of! Now that I can make ghosts corporeal, I’m scared of losing control of this power, too! Of having ghosts I don’t want to deal with physically hurt me. But the others are going to help me learn how to manage this, and we want to help you, too."

Vanya continued staring at Klaus as tears splashed down her own face.

Luther debated whether to say anything, or if he would just make it worse. But he tried: "He’s right, Vanya. I was wrong to lock you up. I’m sorry."

"We all want to help you," Diego did his best to keep his voice steady.

Vanya dropped to her knees, sobbing, as she stopped glowing. Klaus rushed to her and embraced her, immediately feeling her very hot body. He realized that she had tried to burn herself alive. The two held each other as they cried. Allison rushed onstage and wrapped her arms around them both. Diego immediately joined them.

Luther and Five were hesitant. Five wasn’t into showing affection, and Luther was afraid to cross any boundaries with Vanya, in case she hadn’t forgiven him. Luther let the four embrace each other for a couple of minutes and then said, "Guys, we need to get going before the cops come."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Having completed her last assignment, protecting Vanya Hargreeves, Cha-Cha punched in the numbers to the Commission, heard the modem tone and hung up, waiting for the Handler.

After twenty minutes, Cha-Cha panicked. _ The Handler's offer isn’t real, _ Hazel had said. _ You notice something’s missing? We don’t have a briefcase. She’s leaving us to die. _

The apocalypse was going to happen if she protected Vanya Hargreeves. That bitch --- the Handler, that was. Cha-Cha started silently calling out to every deity to let her survive. For her first time since having joined the Commission, Cha-Cha wanted out if they were going to screw her over. And for once, she wanted to be a better person.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vanya fell asleep in the car on the way home. At the mansion, Diego carried her to her room and lay her in her bed. Allison gently removed her jacket and boots, and crawled into with Vanya after she had changed out of her own clothes.

Diego closed the door to Vanya's room and then knocked on Klaus' door. "Come in."

He opened the door to find Klaus sitting on his bed, having changed out of Allison's clothes into his purple velvet pajama bottoms.

"Hi," Klaus said uneasily. He had known they were going to have a conversation very soon.

Diego sat in the chair next to Klaus' bed. He sighed. "I don’t know what to say."

Klaus faced him earnestly. "I’m sorry you had to hear all of that. And I’m sorry I never told you."

Diego didn’t hold back his tears as he embraced Klaus. "Just, please don’t ever do that again. Please, promise me you will talk to me if you ever feel that way again."

"I promise," Klaus said as he shed his own tears again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Five was restless. It was two in the morning. He needed to make sure the apocalypse had been averted now that they got through to Vanya. He wanted to ensure that the Handler was truly dead, and that no one from the Commission would come after him for the damage he had caused there. He pulled his handgun from underneath his bed, just in case.

Two minutes later, he was in the living room as he pulled out from behind the bar counter the briefcase he had used to escape from the Commission.

"Here goes nothing," Five muttered as he opened the briefcase and disappeared in a flash of blue light.


	8. Chapter 8

The other siblings slept in until late Saturday morning. While Allison and Vanya spent time together reacquainting themselves with each other, Diego got ready to head to the gym to have a talk with Al about the fact he was quitting his job there to move back into the Academy; he was pretty certain he was out of a job, anyway, considering he had done no work there in nearly a week. Klaus eagerly offered to help pack, so the two left for the gym.

Sure enough, Al said he was about to toss everything in the boiler room into the dumpster; however, he somewhat softened his tone when Diego vaguely explained that his family was in trouble, and that the lady with whom Al had talked on the phone regarding Diego and his brother was subsequently killed. Al said that Diego was still always welcome to use the gym; he was the best fighter there, anyway.

So, as Diego and Klaus packed up Diego's belongings in the boiler room, Diego got Klaus to talk a little about his past: that Klaus' first sexual encounter was the result of Klaus consuming some beverage at an apartment of a guy he had just met at a party at age fifteen, and that not only as a teen but several times throughout his adult life, Klaus had made legitimate attempts on his life. After making Klaus swear on their mother’s name that he would come to Diego if he ever felt like checking out again, Diego diverted the conversation to happier and funnier memories.

They were nearly done packing when Diego and Klaus were interrupted by Vanya and Allison.

"Um, Allison wanted to take me shopping," Vanya told them, "and since with it just being the two of us…well, our conversation is relatively one-sided right now." Vanya again sighed with regret about Allison's current condition before continuing, "So, we were wondering if you wanted to join us, Klaus."

Klaus' eyes lit up. "Sure!" He beamed before looking at Diego. "About how much do we have left to do here?"

Diego waved his hand. "Go. We’re almost done, anyway. Have a great time." As the others began to leave, Diego interrupted them. "Wait. I want to talk with Vanya for a sec."

As Allison and Klaus departed, Vanya sat nervously on Diego's couch. "Yes?" She asked timidly.

Diego sat down on the bed and faced her. "Vanya, I---I" _ Damn stutter, _ he thought. He heard his mother’s words: _ Picture the word in your mind. _"I’m sorry."

Vanya stared blankly at the brother who, until last night, had treated her with hostility; however, she knew she had deserved it.

"The night the Academy got attacked," Diego continued. "I knew they’d hurt you. I---I didn’t ask if you were okay. I just called you a liability. I was wrong. I’m sorry."

Vanya blinked back tears as she felt a weight lifted from her chest. She tried to compose herself. _ Maybe he’s just apologizing because he’s afraid of my powers, _ she thought to herself, not wanting to get too hopeful. "It’s okay," she muttered.

"No, it’s not," Diego argued sadly. "I mean, and right before all of that shit, you voted with me to not shut Mom down during our meeting." Diego recalled gratefully flashing the shaka sign to Klaus after he had also sided with Diego, after Diego had barely acknowledged Vanya for doing the same.

"Well, I love her, too," Vanya admitted, "and she was the one who really encouraged me in learning to play the violin."

Diego smiled. Mom saw the best in everyone, even their tyrannical "father."

"I can understand why you hate me," Vanya continued. "The book. I never should have written it."

Diego felt a slight pain in his chest as he recalled that autobiography. He knew that a lot of what Vanya had written about him, as well as most of the other siblings, were exaggerated or otherwise inaccurate; however, he now knew Vanya's actions were a result of lacking in understanding of her siblings, the same as the others had lacked with Vanya. He realized that eventually the family would need to discuss her book, some time after the dust had settled.

"Vanya, we all made our mistakes," Diego sighed. "Really, after everything we all just went through, I think we can all work this out." He then got up from the bed and sat down next to his sister. Vanya looked at him with tears in her eyes. Diego placed his hand on her shoulder. "Until then, you’re cool with me. Okay?"

Vanya hugged her brother in return. "I’m sorry," she sobbed.

"I’m sorry, too," Diego whispered as he held Vanya tightly.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When Diego returned to the Academy that evening, he found no one in sight other than Mom recharging herself, and he figured that Pogo was in his own bedroom; neither Luther nor Five were around. That was at least the case, however, until Diego entered the living room as Five appeared in a flash of blue light yet again.

"Jesus, Five!" Diego exclaimed. "Can’t you just walk through the door like everyone else, instead of scaring the shit out of us?!"

"Where is everyone?" Ignoring Diego's statement, Five threw the briefcase he was holding onto the counter.

"Klaus is out shopping with Allison and Vanya. No idea where Luther is. For that matter, where the hell have _ you _ been?!"

"I went back to the Commission," Five said. "I wanted to make sure that the apocalypse had indeed been averted, as well as check out what all damage I had caused when I left before."

"Come again?"

Five sighed, sick of having to explain things to other people. "I caused a bunch of shit last time I was there, which by our timeline was three days ago. The Handler found out what I was up to, so I threw a bunch of hand grenades in the tube and briefcase rooms, and I took out a lot of personnel as well. I thought I had killed the Handler, too, but that was not the case."

Diego decided not to bother asking what a "tube room" was, as Five continued.

"Turns out, Hazel killed her in Jackpine Cove. He was there with the owner of Griddy's; they’re a couple now and he convinced her to close Griddy's and travel around the country. The Handler kidnapped her the night of Vanya's concert and gave Hazel and Cha-Cha one more order, to protect Vanya. That was why Cha-Cha was at the theater. But Hazel went back to their B-and-B room and killed the Handler himself; and he, too, went to the Commission to also make sure this was over."

"And?" Diego wondered intensively.

Five nodded. "It’s over. When the few existing personnel learned that the Handler had been eliminated, they were grateful to no longer have to manipulate the timeline and fear for their lives."

"Okay, then," Diego was relieved. "So, this is all over, right? This is really good news."

Five hesitated. "Yes, great news that there is no prospect of an apocalypse. But not exactly the greatest news overall."

_ Of course, there’s always a hitch, _Diego thought to himself. "How so?"

"Well, as you know from my shrapnel injury, I wound up in quite a scuffle with my boss. And as I escaped the Commission, I left with the intent to return at the time of Luther's meeting with you all about the apocalypse, which of course, I did. However, I didn’t know until I saw the case notes from Dot --- the case manager assigned to all apocalypse events and whom I also killed before I escaped --- that I had actually reset Wednesday's events here by twelve hours." Five sighed before he continued. "And on that note, I should say I’m glad to see you first, because as it turns out, you were the least negatively affected by my changing of the timeline."

It took Diego a moment to process this information. "So, what the hell are you saying? What actually happened that day?"

"Well, according to Dot's case notes, Luther wasn’t able to convince anyone to help fight. Allison decided to go back to Claire, Klaus was going through withdrawals, and you wanted to go after Hazel and Cha-Cha. Before you left, you saw Mom, and she was about to tell you a secret, I assume about Vanya, when I returned. When Luther found out the truth about the moon mission, Allison was still there and she not only helped Luther, but she convinced him to fly back to L.A. with her, and they were heading to the airport together. Vanya had just found Dad’s journal as well, way before her powers and emotions would have gotten out of control."

After taking more time to register what all Five had just said, Diego muttered, "Shit." He realized that Luther and Vanya would each have been in a much better frame of mind to deal with everything; and as a result, Allison would likely had never gotten injured, even if her unintentional part in suppressing Vanya's powers came to light. Then Diego thought of something else. "What about Klaus?"

Five sighed again. "Well, that’s the most difficult aspect; and once again, I’m glad that you're the first person who I’m speaking to about this."

Diego sighed as well. "So, what about him?"

"Well, before you found Mom, Klaus had you tie him up in the attic, so that he would stay sober and conjure Dave. Dave had just appeared to Klaus when I jumped back."

"Shit," Diego muttered. "Klaus still hasn’t been able to do that since he got sober."

"He’s going to feel so much worse when he finds out the reason why he cannot."

Diego had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Why?"

Five hesitated before saying, "Dave wasn’t killed by a Cong. He was killed by a temporal assassin from the Commission."

"_ What?! _"

Without missing a beat, Five continued. "The Commission wasn’t dumb. They knew that the briefcase had been taken back to 1968. We all had tracking devices injected into our wrists, so the Commission knew that someone else besides Hazel and Cha-Cha had taken it. When they realized that not only was it Klaus, but that he had intended to live out the rest of his life with Dave, they had to eliminate Dave so that Klaus would return here. Had Klaus remained there, and lived up to the time where we all were born, that would have created a timeline paradox. The Commission had also hoped that once Klaus returned, he would want to numb himself again as a means of coping with Dave's death. But most importantly, Dave was obviously about to tell Klaus all of this when I returned."

"Jesus," Diego sighed. Then he thought of something. "But if Dave's dead, Klaus should be able to see him since he’s still clean. Unless the Commission can control the afterlife…?"

"They cannot," Five said, "but of course, they could do anything in life, which they also took care of."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Diego was afraid to hear the answer.

Five took a deep breath before continuing. "At the same time I jumped back here, another temporal assassin was deployed somewhere in time to prevent Dave from even being drafted in the Vietnam War. Then, when Klaus landed there himself, another assassin eliminated him, since killing Klaus then had no effect on his birth and current existence today. Unfortunately, the case manager assigned to the Vietnam War was one of the employees I killed, and his case notes were destroyed along with him; so I don’t know where, or when, his assassin traveled in order to keep Dave from being drafted."

"Shit," Diego said dreadfully. "So, you’re saying…?"

"The Dave that Klaus knew never existed. Well, he did exist, and perhaps he still does as he would be in his seventies now; but he never knew Klaus. So Klaus will never be able to conjure him."

"Shit," Diego repeated again, his heart sinking.

Five nodded. "So, based on Klaus' admitted state of mind after he returned, and everything he’s confessed about past suicide attempts…."

Diego nodded, highly worried. This news could very well send Klaus over the edge.

"I’m going to have a family meeting about all of this when everyone is here---"

"Wait," Diego cut Five off. "Let me talk to Klaus about Dave, all right?"

Five nodded. "Of course."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fifteen minutes later Diego was sitting at the kitchen table clutching Eudora's rabbit foot as Mom placed a plate of pancakes with blueberry smiley faces in front of him. "You may be a grown man now, Diego dear, but you still need your nourishment in order to remain strong and healthy," she cheerfully ordered.

Diego looked up at his mother, who laid her hand on his shoulder. "Mom…." He started to say. But he still had no idea what to say to her since….

"What is it, sweetheart?" She smiled comfortingly.

Diego took a deep breath. "I---I---"

"Remember. Picture the word in your mind."

Diego paused, and then he briefly smiled back before continuing, "I’m sorry…for what I did…."

Mom continued beaming. "It’s okay, Diego. You did what you thought was best at the time."

Diego felt tears well up in his eyes. "But I…." _ I killed you, _ was what Diego didn’t want to say.

Mom moved her hand from Diego's shoulder and placed it on his hand. "I understand."

Diego stared at his mother. "What was it like for you…? I mean, while your programming seemed like it was deteriorating?"

Mom thought for a moment, and then responded, "Perhaps it’s comparable to a person being under the influence of drugs and alcohol, to where they are aware they are behaving unusually but cannot control it. Or of being in a lucid dream --- where one knows they are dreaming but do not have the ability to immediately awaken from it."

"I was just afraid…you know, that someone else would do it without showing you mercy." Tears spilled down his face. "I’m sorry."

Mom squeezed his shoulder. "Now, now. There is no need to apologize. I am back here, good as new, and I know that you have always loved me. You children have had plenty to deal with already, so please do not add guilt about me to that."

Diego wiped his eyes. "I do love you." He sighed. "And yeah, we’re still going through stuff. I have to figure out how to tell Klaus that he’ll never see the guy he lost again."

"Oh, dear," Mom said. "I did overhear you and Number Five talking about that."

"That and," Diego sighed again, "I know you saved his life when we were teenagers. I know that he’d tried killing himself a few times."

Mom nodded sadly. "Yes, he did."

"Do you know why?"

"Klaus knew that he could never live up to your father’s expectations," Grace told Diego. "Klaus had looked up to you and the others, and he had wanted to be as tough and as strong as the rest of you were. He believed that he had ultimately failed you all."

Diego felt his eyes tear up. All of those years, Klaus would laugh and joke about things as though nothing was wrong, when Klaus had gone through the worst amount of abuse by their father. He was now afraid of Klaus losing the will to live which he had only seemed to acquire within this past week.

They were interrupted when Luther entered the kitchen. "And where have you been, Luther dear?" Grace inquired.

"The library," Luther answered. "Trying to see what kind of job I could do with no work experience other than Academy missions."

Grace fixed Luther the same set of pancakes. Luther had just devoured them when he and Diego heard the front door open and chattering between Klaus and Vanya. 

Five then zapped in the kitchen. "Okay, I guess it’s time to get this thing started."

"What thing?" Luther asked.

"Family meeting," Diego sighed as he grabbed his and Luther's empty plates and put them in the sink. His feeling of dread intensified, not knowing how Klaus would react to all of this information. Diego hoped that after tonight he wouldn’t lose the brother he considered to be his best friend.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It gets a little worse, then much better for Number Four. Keep reading!

With a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, Diego followed Luther to the living room where they and Five (who, of course, had teleported from the kitchen) met up with Allison, Klaus and Vanya; the latter two armed with shopping bags, and Vanya with a new haircut and makeover. Diego looked at how happy the three were; even Allison, despite her own new (but hopefully, temporary) reality. It broke Diego's heart to think of the news they all were about to receive, and how much this could potentially destroy Klaus. He wished Klaus didn’t have to know this, but Diego also knew it was unfair that Klaus hang on to any hope that he would ever see Dave again. Now he wished he did have that damn rope so that he could indeed tie Klaus up to prevent him from harming himself; but Diego also knew that he couldn’t monitor Klaus twenty-four/seven (although he certainly as hell was willing to do whatever it took to prevent Klaus from going over the proverbial edge).

"Well, hello to all of you!" Klaus looked suspiciously at Luther, Diego and Five. "Here to look at all of our findings from today?"

Diego looked at Five, and then back at his sisters and flamboyant brother. "Uh, maybe later."

Allison noted Diego's concerned expression and wrote: _ NOW WHAT’S GOING ON? _

"Um, you might want to sit down for this," Five said bluntly.

She exchanged uneasy glances with Vanya and Klaus as they slowly parked themselves on the couch. Diego joined them and made it a point to sit next to Klaus himself.

Five started explaining things similar to how he had told Diego; first, that he had returned to the Commission to learn that the apocalypse was indeed over; secondly, that he had discovered his mistake in resetting Wednesday's timeline, detailing everything he had changed…with the exception of how that affected Klaus.

Regardless, everyone else sat speechless. It was bad enough for Vanya and Allison to learn that Allison would likely have not been injured, and perhaps Luther would have indeed met Claire. They both stared sadly at Five.

Of course, Klaus soon piped up: "Wait, Five. What about me? You never said what would have happened to me."

Five and Diego again exchanged dreadful glances before Diego sighed and said to Klaus, "Hey, man, let’s go to your room and talk in private, okay?"

Klaus looked at Five, and then back to Diego. "No. Tell me now," Klaus demanded, knowing this wasn’t good. Then he blurted out, "What, are you going to tell me you interrupted my meeting with Dave or something?!"

"Shit," Five muttered, without thinking.

"Great, Five!" Diego snapped at his arrogant little older brother, without thinking, himself. Then he faced Klaus, whose green eyes grew wide, brimming with tears.

Klaus looked at Diego. "D…?"

Diego clamped both of his hands around Klaus' shoulders. "Come on, bro," Diego said quietly as he started to stand up.

Klaus quickly jerked away from Diego and darted up out of his own seat, glaring at Five. "_Five, tell me NOW!_" Klaus screamed. Diego quickly wrapped his hands around Klaus' upper arms as Five abruptly told Klaus his worst news ever.

Klaus stood in shock, staring at Five, while Diego tightened his grip even more on Klaus. Again, Klaus tried jerking away from Diego, but Diego instead moved his arms around Klaus' chest.

"_Let me go, Diego!!!_" Klaus screeched as he struggled.

"Come on," Diego said quietly as he held onto Klaus. "Let’s go up to your room and talk."

"_FUCK YOU, FIVE!!!_" Klaus cried as Diego literally dragged him out of the living room and up the stairs. "_GODDAMNIT!!! I HATE YOU, FIVE!!!_"

The other siblings sat in silence after the two brothers left. Tears ran down Vanya's face as well; next to Vanya, Allison threw her arm around Vanya's shoulders.

"I hope he’s going to be okay," Vanya's voice quivered. Besides Diego, no one had ever seen Klaus in such an explosive rage.

Luther, who had been relatively speechless up to this point, muttered, "Yeah. Me, too. But…." He trailed off.

The others knew what Luther was thinking.

Five sighed. "I really screwed things up."

Just then there was a knock at the front door. Luther, who with Five had been standing in front of the others, let out a sharp breath. "Who the hell is here at this time of night?" He walked over to the door and answered it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego sat on Klaus' bed, clinging to his little brother who was sobbing hysterically in his arms, holding him tightly. "_I hate him! I hate him! I hate him!_" Klaus wailed repeatedly.

Diego rocked Klaus back and forth. He didn’t know what to say. Nothing that would make any difference, Diego knew. Klaus' heart had been shattered, and Diego was so afraid that this had completely broken his brother.

"_I can’t take any more! I can’t take any more! FUCK MY GODDAMNED LIFE!!!_"

Diego felt tears roll down his own face as he tightened his grip on his brother even more. He tried searching through his head for something, _ anything, _ that could keep Klaus from hurting as badly; just then, there was a knock on the door. "Not now, guys," Diego called out.

But then the door opened. A man with dirty blond hair, dressed in military gear, stood in the doorway. "Klaus?"

"Can I help you?" Diego asked the man, while simultaneously Klaus pulled away to face him as well.

"_Dave?_"

"What the hell…?"

Klaus looked at the man, and then at Diego. "You see him, too?"

Diego stared at the man dumbfoundedly. "Uh, yeah."

Klaus looked down at his hands. They weren’t glowing this time.

Dave smiled. "I’m alive, Klaus."

Klaus sat speechless for another moment, and then he sprang from the bed and approached Dave, putting his arms around Dave's torso. He tearfully smiled. "Oh, my God! Dave! How?!"

From behind Dave, Five stepped out.

Klaus looked past Dave to his brother. "_You _ brought him back?"

Five smiled. "Well, I wish I could take credit for that. So, why don’t you and Diego join the rest of us downstairs so that you can talk to the people responsible."

Klaus took Dave's hand, and he and Diego followed Five down the stairs and into the living room, where the rest of the siblings remained, now with their other houseguests: Hazel and Cha-Cha. 

"The hell?!" Diego exclaimed. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Between each other, Hazel and Cha-Cha explained how this had all become possible. It was indeed true that Hazel had visited the Commission prior to Five, for the same purpose: to ensure that the apocalypse had been averted. However there were details that the few remaining personnel had intentionally left out, in case the efforts wouldn’t work.

After Hazel and Agnes had arrived outside the theater and saw the massive presence of law enforcement, they noticed Cha-Cha by the payphone. Cha-Cha immediately surrendered her gun to Hazel and apologized for what she had done to both of them. Like Hazel, she was finally ready to make a fresh start. So Hazel put Agnes up in a nice hotel room, and _ both _ he and Cha-Cha traveled via the Handler's briefcase to the Commission.

During Hazel and Cha-Cha's conversation with the surviving employees, they learned that one of them knew a field assassin who had said he was being sent to avert a Vietnam War drafting; and seeing Dot's case notes, they put two and two together. The first field assassin had been assigned to kill the gentleman who was supposed to draw the lottery in which Dave's birthday would have been included. So Hazel traveled to that time period to take out that assassin; then Cha-Cha traveled to the time Klaus dropped in at Vietnam and eliminated _ that _ assassin. Later, when Dave would have died, Cha-Cha shot Dave with a tranquilizer which appeared to produce blood and temporarily slowed his heart rate (one of many Commission props); and Klaus left Vietnam heartbroken as he did before.

Afterward, Hazel and Cha-Cha brought Dave back to the Commission and spent a lengthy amount of time explaining whom Klaus really was, and that by arranging this, they had saved Dave's life.

Klaus remained with his arms wrapped around Dave as he and the other siblings stared at the two former assassins, speechless.

"I know this doesn’t make up for what we did to all of you," Cha-Cha said, looking at Diego and Klaus, "especially you two, but I hope it’s a start."

Diego looked at his brother, overjoyed. Just fifteen minutes before, Klaus was probably at the lowest moment of his life; now he was experiencing his happiest. Diego then faced Hazel and Cha-Cha. "If Klaus is able to forgive you, then I can try."

Hazel said that he would return the Handler's briefcase to the Commission and continue his bird-watching road trip with Agnes. Five then pulled out his own briefcase to give to Cha-Cha. With the Commission out of commission (pardon the pun), Five no longer wanted any ties to it.

Cha-Cha then looked at Diego. "Well, I know that the cops know that it was my gun that killed your friend. I will stay behind and turn myself in."

Diego stared at Cha-Cha, finding this about-face still hard to get used to.

"Diego," Five interjected. "I know they hurt you, but I did the same things when I was employed; remember?"

Diego looked back at Klaus, who was the happiest that Diego had ever seen him. Then he said to Hazel and Cha-Cha, "Don’t. Just travel elsewhere. But you should go quickly before I change my mind."

Cha-Cha smiled. "If you’re sure."

"Go," Diego smiled at her.

Hazel held out his hand to Cha-Cha. "Can’t say it was always great working with you, but I’m glad it ended well."

Cha-Cha shook his hand. Then she opened the briefcase and disappeared in a flash of blue light.

"Okay, I’ve got to return this and head back to Agnes," Hazel shook Five's hand as well. Then he, too, disappeared.

Klaus slid his hand back in Dave's. "Let’s go up to my room, Babe. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do."

Dave followed Klaus back to his bedroom. Klaus sat Dave down on the bed and said, "Hold on. I wanna talk to my brother Diego quickly." Klaus walked out of his room and stood under Diego's doorway; Diego had just sat down on his own bed and looked up at Klaus.

Klaus quickly plopped himself down on the bed and wrapped his arms around Diego. "I'm so sorry, D.," he sobbed again.

Diego hugged his brother tightly. "It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re okay. Now, go be with him." Then Diego laughed. "I guess I’ll talk to you in a few days."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost done with this one! The final chapter will be an epilogue.
> 
> Hit me up on tumblr under the same username, KittiePhanatic. I just joined that site, so any feedback in navigating it (and finding prompt fills) is appreciated! 💖


	10. Epilogue

Six month had passed since the apocalypse had been averted.

Dave spent a week acclimating himself to his new timeline, and then Diego worked out a deal with Al: have Dave take over the maintenance of the gym and have him and Klaus take the boiler room. Al was impressed by Dave's speed and work ethic.

Meanwhile, Diego started teaching both Klaus and Vanya martial arts; Vanya had figured that if she learned to defend herself, then maybe her powers would not go out of control as they had before.

Luther spent most of his days hidden in his room, while Five hung out at the Argyle library reading books on time travel that had previously been destroyed in the apocalypse.

Allison spent two months at the Academy as she worked to get her voice back. Afterward, she flew back to L.A. to resume her counseling sessions; the judge had previously agreed to postpone the sessions due to Allison's condition. Within three more months, however, the judge granted Allison supervised visits to Claire on Saturdays.

Before Allison had moved back to L.A., Vanya called a family meeting to officially apologize to her family for her autobiography. She offered to submit an op-ed to the local paper retracting her work, but in the end everyone decided it was best to leave it alone. Otherwise, it would draw even more press attention, and no one wanted that. At least they were no longer worshipped or put on pedestals by everyday society like when they were kids.

It was now September 25. Klaus received a six-month sobriety coin. He and Dave arrived at the mansion for a family dinner. Mom cooked him waffles to celebrate.

As it turned out, Klaus didn’t have to worry about making unwanted ghosts corporeal. When it first happened, Ben appeared as well and sent them flying with his tentacles. Before long the otherworld knew not to mess with Ben, and that since Ben had his powers in death, so would the other siblings when they died. Klaus and the other siblings were grateful.

After dinner, Klaus brought Dave, Diego and Vanya to his room where they watched a movie. Klaus fell asleep before it was over, so Dave quietly picked him up and put him in bed. When the movie ended, Dave crawled in with Klaus.

In the hallway, Vanya closed Klaus' bedroom door and started toward her own room.

"Hey, Vanya," Diego stopped her. "You okay? You seemed pretty quiet earlier."

Vanya sighed as her eyes watered. "Yeah, it’s just that Klaus' sobriety date now also reminds me of…." She trailed off.

Diego reached out and took his sister in his arms. "I understand," he said quietly. As they broke apart, he grinned. "You know that both Klaus and I are gonna fully investigate the next guy who asks you out."

Vanya smiled back at him. This time, she would no longer mind it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, folks! Thank you all for the wonderful comments (even before you knew where this was going with Dave, LOL).


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